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HISTORY 


OF 

THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Zbc  IDiocesc  of  Spdngfielb. 


REV.  JOHN  J.  McCOY,  P.R. 


BOSTON 

THE  HURD  & EVERTS  CO 
1900 


BOSTON  COLLEGE  LIBRARt 
CHESTNUT  HILL.  MASS. 


14  I 

sn  h\  19 

Copyright,  1900. 


By  The  Hurd  & Everts  Co. 


22155 


Printed  by 
Wm.  J,  Malcoiniony 
Philadelphia, 


Dedication 


TO  MY  BISHOP, 

Rt.  Rev.  THOMAS  D.  BEAVEN,  D.D., 

WHOSE 

ENCOURAGING  WORD  GREATLY  HELPED, 

AND  TO 

WHOSE  GOOD  JUDGMENT 
I WAS  ALWAYS 

FREE  TO  LOOK  FOR  GUIDANCE  IN  THE  PROGRESS  OF  MY  WORK, 
AND  TO  THE 

PRIESTS  OF  THE  DIOCESE, 

WHOSE  HONOR  ALWAYS  LIES  CLOSE  TO  MY  HEART, 

THE  FOLLOWING  PAGES 
ARE  AFFECTIONATELY  DEDICATED 


BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


PREFACE. 


JECAUSE  my  Bishop  so  desired,  I have  written  this  history  of  the 
diocese  of  Springfield.  Whether  the  work  is  done  well  or  other- 
wise, the  reading  public  soon  will  say.  I only  know  that  I have 
written  with  honest  mind  and  kindly  heart,  and  that  all  the  way  through  the 
sweet  honorableness  of  our  people’s  story  was  growing  upon  me,  and  my 
labor  became  a labor  of  love  indeed. 

I have  given  especial  care  to  the  parish  histories,  for  I believed  the 
people  would  be  concerned  more  intimately  with  their  own  homes  and 
tlieir  own  pastors,  than  with  tlie  world  and  men  outside,  and  I fancied,  too, 
that  each  parish  sketch  properly  outlined  now  would  prove  to  be  right 
foundation  for  a parish  volume  by  and  by.  It  may  be  noted  that  some 
parishes  are  treated  more  fully  than  others.  The  reasons  are,  either  such 
parishes  are  older  and  thus  have  lengthened  history ; or  larger,  and  the  work 
of  large  parishes  has  more  detail ; or  some  pastors,  in  seeking  answer  to  the 
Bishop’s  letters  for  information,  took  more  pains  than  others,  and  so  fur- 
nished me  with  more  material  for  my  story. 

I have  made  use  of  information  sought  in  a hundred  places,  but  have 
been  careful  to  control  iny  authorities  in  every  case.  Nothing  which  lacks 
authentication  is  written  down  as  certain  ; and,  in  most  cases,  the  authority 
for  unusual  statements  will  be  found  on  the  very  page  that  has  the  recorded 
word  and  deed. 

I desire  now  to  thank  Bishop  Beaven,  the  priests  and  the  nuns  for  all 
the  aid  given  me,  and  I wish  to  acknowledge  the  helpfulness  of  Father 
William  Powers’  notes  in  the  Sacred  Heart  Review,  and  of  Miss  Mellaney’s 
useful  volume  “Catholic  Pittsfield.” 

John  J.  McCoy, 

Holy  Namt  Rectory, 


Chicopee  Mass.,  Dec.  1899. 


CONTENTS 


Page 

EARLY  HISTORY i-ii 

Pre-Columbian  History — Irish  Monks  of  the  Ninth  Century — Domini- 
cans IN  Virginia  in  1526 — The  Jesuits  in  Maine— French  and  Indian 
Wars — The  Deerfield  Massacre — Eunice  Williams— The  Acadians — 

Two  Priests  in  New  England  in  1805 — Matignon  and  Cheverus — The 
First  Church  in  the  Diocese — Father  Fitton  First  Settled  Pastor. 

CHURCH  AND  PARISH  SCHOOL 11-19 

Rt.  Rev.  Patrick  Thomas  O’Reilly — The  First  Bishop  of  the  Diocese 
— “Paul  Peppergrass ’’ — The  Seminary  of  Mount  St.  James — The  First 
Parish  Church— St.  Ann’s  and  the  First  Nuns — Sister  Mary  Eliza- 
beth— Daughters  of  Julia  Billiart  -The  English  Nun  Albanie — Parish 
Schools — College  of  the  Holy  Cross. 

INSTITUTIONS  OF  HIGHER  LEARNING  AND  CHARITY 19-31 

Rt.  Rev.  Thom.\s  D.  Beaven,  D.D. — The  Sisters  of  Mercy — Sisters  of 
St.  Joseph — Sisters  of  Providence — First  Parochial  School  in  the 
Diocese — The  Purchase  of  Ingleside — The  Brightside  Purchase — The 
Gray  Nuns — The  Little  Franciscan  Sisters  of  Mercy — The  Nuns. 


PARISH  HISTORIES. 

JGerhsblre  Counts. 


PAGE 


St.  Francis’  Church,  North  Adams  34 
Notre  Dame  du  Sacre  Coeur,  North 

Adams 37 

Church  OF  St.  Tho.mas,  Ada.ms  . . . . 38 

St.  Mary’s  of  the  Assumption,  Ches- 

sHiRE 40 

Notre  Dame  De  Sept.  Douleurs, 

Adams 41 

St.  Peter’s  Church,  Great  Barring- 
ton   43 

St.  Patrick’s  Church  and  St.  Agnes’ 

Church,  Hinsdale  and  Dalton  45 


St.  Bridget’s  Church,  Housatonic  . 47 

St.  Mary’s  Church,  Lee 48 

St.  Ann’s  Church,  Lenox 49 

St.  Joseph’s  Church,  Pittsfield  ...  51 

Our  Lady  of  Good  Counsel,  Pitts- 
field  56 

St.  Charles’  Church,  Pittsfield  . . 57 

St.  Joseph’s  Church,  West  Stock- 

bridge  58 

St.  Patrick’s  Church,  Williamstown  60 

Church  of  St.  Raphael,  Williams- 
town   . 63 


V 


VI 


CONTENTS. 


IbampOen  Counts. 


PACK  - 

St.  Bartholomew’s  Church,  Bonds-  | 

VILLE 64 

Parish  of  the  Holy  Na.me  of  Jesus,  I 

Chicopee 65 

St.  Patrick’s  Church,  Chicopee  i 

Falls 73 

Church  of  the  Assumption,  Chico- 
pee   75 

St.  Stanislaus  Parish,  Chicopee  . . 76 

St.  Joachim’s  Parish,  Chicopee  Falls  78  j 

Notre  Dame  Des  Victoires  Church, 

VViLLIMANSETT 8o  j 

St.  Jerome’s  Parish,  Holyoke  ....  81  [ 

Parish  of  the  Precious  Blood,  Holy- 
oke   86 

Sacred  Heart  Parish.  Holyoke  ...  88  I 

I 

Holy  Rosary  Parish,  Holyoke  ...  90  j 

Our  Lady  of  Perpetual  Help  Parish,  j 
Holyoke 92  ! 


PAGB 


Church  of  the  Poles,  Holyoke  ...  93 

St.  Michael’s  Church,  Longmeadow  94 
St.  Patrick’s  Church,  Monson  ...  95 

St.  Thomas’  Church,  Palmer  ....  97 

St.  Michael’s  Cathedral,  Spring- 

field  98 

Sacred  Heart  Church,  Springfield  105 
St.  Joseph’s  Church,  Springfield.  . 108 

St.  Matthew’s  Church,  Indian  Or- 
chard   109 

St.  Aloysius’  Church,  Indian  Or- 
chard   Ill 

Immaculate  Conception  Church, 

West  Springfield 112 

St.  Thomas’ Church,  Mittineague  . 112 

St.  William’s  Church,  Mittineague  113 
St.  Ann’s  Church,  Three  Rivers.  . 114 

St.  Mary’s  Church,  Thorndike  . . . 115 

St.  Mary’s  Church,  Westfield  ...  115 


JFranhlln  Countg. 


St.  James’ Church,  Deerfield  . . . . 120 

Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  Green- 
field   124 

St.  John’s  Church,  Miller’s  Falls  . 126 


St.  Joseph’s  Church,  Shelburne 

Falls 127 

St.  Mary’s  Church,  Turner’s  Falls  129 
St.  Ann’s  Church,  Turner’s  Falls  130 


Ibampsbtre  Count?. 


St.  Bridget’s  Church,  Amherst  . . . 131 

Immaculate  Conception  Church, 

East  Hampton 133 

Church  of  the  Annunciation,  Flo- 
rence   134 

St.  Joseph’s,  Hatfield 136 

St.  Mary’s  Church,  Haydenville  . . 136 

St.  Thomas’  Church  Huntington  . . 138 


St.  Mary’s  Church,  Northamp- 
ton   140 

Sacred  Heart,  Northampton  ....  145 

Church  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  146 
St.  Patrick’s  Church,  South  Hadly 

Falls 146 

Church  of  All  Saints,  Ware  ....  147 

Our  Lady  OF  Mt.  Carmel,  Ware  . . . 150 


Timorcester  Count?. 


St.  Denis’  Church,  Ashburnham  . . 151 

Church  of  St.  Catherine,  Athol  . . 152 

St.  Paul’s  Church,  Blackstone  . . . 154 

St.  Anthony’s,  West  Boylston  . . . 158 


St.  Joseph’s  Church,  North  Brook- 


field   160 

St.  Mary’s,  Brookfield 165 

St.  John’s  Church,  Clinton 167 


CONTENTS. 


St.  Matthew’s  Church,  Cordaville 

St.  Denis’,  East  Douglass 

Church  OF  St.  James,  Fisherville  . . 
St.  Patrick  and  St.  Anne,  Fiskdale 
St.  Bernard’s  Church,  Fitchburg  . 
Immaculate  Conception  Church, 

Fitchburg  

St.  Joseph’s  Church,  Fitchburg  . . 
Church  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  West 

Fitchburg  

Church  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  Gard- 
ner   

Our  Lady  of  the  Rosary,  West 

Gardner  

St.  Aloysius’  Church,  Gilbertville 
St.  Phillip’s  Church,  Grafton  . . . 
St.  M.ary’s  Church,  Jefferson  .... 
St.  Joseph’s  Church,  Leicester  . . . 
St.  Leo’s  Church,  Leominster  . . . 
St.  Mary’s  Church,  Milford  .... 

St.  Bridget’s,  Millbury 

Church  of  the  Assumption,  Millbury 
Church  of  St.  Augustine,  Millville 
St.  Rose’s  Church,  Northboro  . . . 
St.  Martin’s  Church,  Otter  River  . 

St.  Roch’s  Church,  Oxford 

St.  Mary’s  Church,  Southbridge  . . 
Church  of  Notre  Dame, Southbridge 


vii 


Church  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Rosary, 

Spencer 219 

St.  Mary’s  Church,  Spencer  ....  223 

St.  Mary’s  Church,  Uxbridge  ....  224 

St.  Paul’s  Church,  Warren 226 

St.  Thomas’  Church,  West  Warren  . 228 

St.  Louis’  Church,  Webster 228 

Sacred  Heart  Church,  Webster  . . 231 

St.  Joseph’s  Church,  Webster  . . . . 232 

St.  Luke’s  Church,  Westboro  ....  234 

St  Patrick’s  Church,  Whitinsvtlle  239 
Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary,  W’in- 

CHENDON 242 

Church  of  St.  John,  Worcester  . . 244 

St.  Anne’s  Church,  Worcester  . . . 260 

St.  Paul’s  Church,  Worcester  . . . 264 

Church  of  Notre  Dame,  Worcester  267 
Church  of  Immaculate  Conception, 

Worcester 270 

Church  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  Wor- 
cester   271 

St.  Peter’s  Church,  Worcester  . . 274 

St.  Stephen’s  Church,  Worcester  276 
St.  Joseph’s  Church,  Worcester  . . 277 

Church  of  the  Holy  Name,  Worces- 
ter   278 

Church  of  the  Italians,  Worcester  280 
St.  Casimir’s  Church,  Worcester  . . 280 


PAGE 

170 

172 

174 

175 

176 

182 

183 

184 

185 

188 

189 

I9I 

193 

195 

198 

199 

204 

206 

207 

208 

209 

212 

214 

218 


THE  DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGEIELD. 


CHAPTER  I. 

EARLY  HISTORY. 

(5  I HE  Catholic  Church  in  our  day  more  markedly  than  ever  before  engages 
^ I the  respectful  notice  of  our  ablest  minds. 

Five  years  ago,  at  Boston,  a famous  orator  in  the  very  beginning 
of  his  address  startled  a great  audience  by  saying  : “ If  I were  asked  to-night 
to  name  the  most  important  event  of  the  last  fifty  years,  I would  unhesitatingly 
answer  that  it  was  the  Jubilee  of  the  Pope,  which  has  been  celebrated  in  the 
last  few  weeks.”  A scholarly  gentleman  in  the  same  city,  who  has  achieved 
eminence  in  various  walks  of  life,  who  has  been  the  Mayor  of  Boston  and 
Overseer  of  Harvard,  is  reported  to  have  said  in  like  spirit  within  a year: 
“ The  most  extraordinary  thing  observed  by  me  in  my  life-time  is  the  growth 
here  about  us  in  New  England  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  numbers  of 
adherents,  in  material  wealth,  and  in  the  vast  power  for  good  which  she  is 
everywhere  wisely  exercising.” 

Both  men  have  sight  of  the  same  truth,  though  from  different  coignes 
of  vantage,  and  in  different  measure.  One  sees  and  speaks  only  of  New 
England,  our  own  small  corner  of  the  earth;  the  other  sweeps  all  its  horizons. 
One  marvels  to  see  the  same  New  England  in  a single  life-time  appear 
largely  to  grow  Catholic ; the  other,  whose  faith  has  made  him  clearer  eyed, 
rejoices,  but  does  not  marvel,  while  looking  at  the  whole  world  hurrying 
back  again  to  the  knees  of  Christ’s  Vicar.  He  is  calm  in  the  certain  knowl- 
edge, as  are  all  the  children  of  the  church  which  he  calls  Mother,  that  the 
nations  of  the  earth — those  that  have  gone  away  and  those  that  have  never 
known — will  turn  and  come  soon  or  late  to  kiss  in  affectionate  fealty  the 
anointed  hand  that  blesses  them  from  the  throne  of  the  Fisherman. 

In  these  pages  the  writer  has  to  do  only  with  New  England,  and  more 
especially  with  that  part  of  it  embraced  by  the  diocese  of  Springfield,  and 
is  expected  to  deal  but  with  things  occurring  since  Springfield  was  made 
a Bishop’s  See  ; he  feels,  however,  that  he  may  be  pardoned  one  rapid  look  at 
other  times  and  scenes,  and  at  the  men  who  are  said  to  have  enlivened  such 
times  and  scenes  long  before  Springfield  had  an  existence.  The  Catholic 
side  of  our  history  has  never  received  fair  attention,  and  our  children  have 
grown  up  in  the  schools  supposing  that  Catholics  came  here  for  the  first  time 
within  the  second  quarter  of  the  present  century,  and  came  then  to  build  the 
1 1 


2 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


railroads,  and  to  dig  the  canals,  and  to  raise  the  factories  and  shops,  to  clear 
the  wild  lands,  and  to  bend  their  strong  backs  in  the  multitudinous  manual 
labors  of  a new  conntry. 

I am  sure  it  will  fall  with  strange  sonnd  npon  older  ears  than  the  chil- 
dren’s to  hear  one  say  that  Catholicity  in  New  England  is  older  than  Colnm- 
bns.  Yet  no  one  has  adeqnately  disproved  the  claim  of  the  traditions  which 
say  so.  If  there  is  any  truth  in  the  tale  which  reports  the  monks  of  a hun- 
dred European  monasteries  as  familiar,  as  early  as  the  eleventh  century,  with 
the  story  of  the  Irish  sailor-bishop  St.  Brendan,  Abbot  of  Claiunfert  in  Ire- 
land, who  in  A.  D.  560,  more  than  eight  hnndred  years  before  the  great 
Genoese,  came  to  these  shores  ; or  in  that,  wherein  Montalembert^  asserts  that 
Iceland,  as  the  sailor  monks  would  go,  was  only  six  days’  sail  from  Ireland, 
and  there  the  first  Christian  Church,  as  early  as  the  ninth  century,  bore  the 
name  of  the  Irish  Saint  Columba  ; or  that  which  tells  of  another  Irishman, 
he  too  a bishop,  John  of  Skalholt  in  Iceland,  who  had  seen  the  Vinland  of 
the  Sagas  even  before  Eric,  bishop  of  the  See  of  Garder  in  Greenland  (i  1 12)  ; 
or  in  that  of  the  famous  Franciscan  priest,  Andrew  Thevet,  cosmographer  to 
the  French  King,  who  claimed  to  have  been  on  the  coast  of  Norumbega, 
which  surely  was  some  part  of  New  England  ; or  in  that  other  of  the  mys- 
terious Frenchmen,  who  had  bnilt  before  1575,  “a  little  fort  ten  or  twelve 
miles  np  the  Norumbega  river  on  a spot  surrounded  by  fresh  water,”  and 
traces  of  whose  efforts  to  ‘ ‘ check  the  vices  of  the  natives  and  to  instrnct 
them  in  the  truths  of  religion”  ^ were  found  by  the  earliest  English  settlers — 
then  has  the  faith  been  here  for  a long  time ; only — as  old-world  stories  say  of 
the  wheat  grains,  which  were  buried  for  dark  centuries  in  the  tombs  of  the 
Pharaohs,  yet  preserved  there  for  future  fields  the  principle  of  their  glorious 
life, — the  seeds  of  faith  were  hidden  through  the  years,  bnt  now  under  the  snn 
and  soft  showers  of  blessed  opportunity  in  our  day,  they  are  up  in  bloom  again 
and  headed ; they  have  fulfilled  their  magnificent  promise,  as  we  may  see  on 
the  waving  hillsides  and  in  the  wide  valleys,  where  the  Church  is  so  busy 
gathering  in  the  yellow  splendor  of  her  harvest. 

It  is  a matter  of  interesting  moment  to  us  American  Catholics  of  Irish 
stock,  to  learn  of  the  claims  advanced  by  students  of  history  of  many  nation- 
alities in  favor  of  our  forefathers  in  the  faith  and  in  blood,  as  the  earliest  dis- 
coverers of  this  country,  and  snrely,  as  far  as  records  lift  the  veil,  the  very 
first  teachers  of  Christianity  within  its  borders.  To  this  latter  even  Justin 
Windsor,  who  is  not  friendly  to  Celtic  claims,  would  seem,  at  least  inferen- 
tially,  to  lend  help  when  he  says  : “Thither  to  Iceland,  if  we  identify  the 
localities  in  Geoffrey  of  Monmonth,  King  Arthur  sailed  as  early  as  the  begin- 
ning of  the  sixth  century.  . . . Here,  too,  an  occasional  wandering  pilot  or 
adventnrous  Dane  had  glimpsed  the  shore.  Thither  among  others  came  the 
Irish,  and  in  the  ninth  century  we  find  Irish  monks  and  a small  colony  of  their 
countrymen  in  possession.  ...  So  that  a thousand  years  ago  and  more,  when 

‘ “ Monks  of  the  West.”  Vol.  i,  p.  80. 

’See  ‘‘Hist,  of  Ch.  in  Eng.  Colonies,”  Shea,  Vo)  i. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


3 


the  Norwegians  crossed  from  Scandinavia  (they)  found  those  Christian  Irish 
there.  It  was  in  A.  D.  875  that  Ingolf,  a jarl  of  Norway,  came  to  Iceland  with 
Norse  settlers.  . . . The  Christian  Irish  preferred  to  leave  their  asylum  rather 
than  consort  with  the  new  comers.''''  ^ 

Certain  it  is  that  the  Icelandic  Sagas  say  that  in  the  tenth  century,  Are 
Marson,  driven  from  his  course  by  a storm,  came  to  a land,  which  thereafter, 
from  the  character  of  its  inhabitants  was  called  Huitramannaland,  white 
man’s  land,  otherwise  Irland  it  Mikla,  the  greater  Ireland.^  Many  scholars 
in  history  contend  that  Irland  it  Mikla  was  the  new  home  of  the  Christian 
Irish  who  in  the  century  before  had  left  Iceland  to  their  unwelcome  neigh- 
bors, the  Norse  pagans  of  Ingolf.  Some  place  this  greater  Ireland  along  the 
Carolina  coast,  others  in  Canada,  others  again  somewhere  in  New  England. 

Whether  there  be  truth  or  not  in  the  stories  herein  told,  there  are  not 
wanting  learned  men  who  earnestly  maintain  their  truth,  and  with  fair 
evidence  of  reason ; and  in  this  connection  we  may  with  pardonable  satisfac- 
tion note  the  fact,  that  though  many  unfriendly  hands  have  labored  long  to 
dissipate  the  legends,  they  have  not  yet  been  taken  from  the  books.  Cyni- 
cism can  no  longer  with  a laugh  annihilate  the  things  that  make  for  the 
historical  credit  of  the  Catholic  Irish . 

In  post-Columbian  days.  Catholicity  came  to  us  through  the  Spaniards. 
All  the  Americas  were  first  under  the  spiritual  care  of  the  Bishop  of  Seville, 
because  the  priests  who  first  came,  sailed  from  that  port,  and  had  to  receive 
faculties  from  him.  Therefore  “not  inaptly,’’  says  John  Gilmary  Shea, 
“ the  Cathedral  of  Seville  preserves  in  her  treasury  the  chalice  made  of  the  first 
gold  taken  to  Europe  by  Columbus  ; for  the  first  fruits  of  the  precious  tnetals 
of  the  New  World  were  dedicated  to  the  service  of  God  in  the  Catholic 
Church.’’  In  view  of  our  Cuban  war  it  is  interesting  to  know  that  the 
second  diocese  canonically  erected  in  the  lands  claimed  for  Spain  by  Colum- 
bus, was  that  of  Santiago  de  Cuba  (1522),  and  priests  came  thence  to  carry 
the  faith  to  the  savages  who  then  inhabited  the  South  and  North  and  West 
which  to-day  we  call  our  country. 

Cabot  came  in  1502,  bringing  from  the  port  of  Bristol  the  first  band  of 
English-speaking  Catholics.  Five  years  afterwards  a priest  came  to  min- 
ister to  them,  and  for  the  first  time  in  this  land  to  announce  the  gospel 
in  the  tongue  of  St.  Anselm.  Near  to  Cabot  came  Cartier,  then  Cham- 
plain, and  soon  thereafter  altars  were  erected  in  a hundred  places,  the 
forests  knew  the  priests  of  God,  and  priests  and  catechists  everywhere  were 
devoting  their  lives  to  the  salvation  of  the  tribes.  They  have  never  ceased 
their  labors.  One  long  scroll  of  honor  is  the  Church’s  history  here.  Every 
page  has  illumination  in  the  saintliness  of  our  priests  and  in  the  self- 
sacrifice  of  our  nuns.  A thousand  pages  are  marked  with  the  red  and  beau- 
tiful blood  of  the  martyrs ; and  the  cause  of  Christ  is  sure,  at  call,  of  the 
blood  of  ten  thousand  more.  We  have  deep  pride  in  our  history,  and  the 
sweetest  consolation  in  recalling  it. 

1 Windsor,  “ Nar.  and  Crit.  Hist.,”  Vol.  i,  pp.  60  and  61. 

’ See  De  Costa,  Pre-Columbian  Disc,  of  Am.,  p.  85. 


4 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


When  hate  is  reborn,  and  ignorance  calls  us  new-comers,  and  presump- 
tion demands  thanks  for  the  goodness  that  lets  us  live,  we  make  this  reply 
to  the  declaimers : We  are  not  here  on  sufferance  from  you.  We  did  not 
come  to  you.  We  were  here  before  you.  Waiving  the  bright  story  of 
Catholic  discoverers  and  explorers,  waiving  the  conquests,  which,  though 
cruel  and  unworthy  in  many  ways,  yet  made  straight  the  paths  for  civiliza- 
tion ; waiving  the  sailors  and  traders  of  the  beginning,  who  brought  to  the 
old  lands  the  wealth  of  the  new,  and  with  golden  lines  of  commerce  con- 
nected shore  and  shore  ; waiving  these  and  others  all,  and  speaking  of  Chris- 
tianity as  taught  by  ordained  and  properly  accredited  teachers,  who  built 
temples  to  Christ,  and  organized  Christian  congregations  in  savage  or  civil- 
ized communities,  then  were  we  here  an  hundred  years  before  you. 

“In  1526  Dominicians  reared  a chapel  on  the  banks  of  the  James,  in 
Virginia;  1539,  the  Italian  Franciscan,  Mark,  from  Nice,  penetrated  to  New 
Mexico ; and  soon  after  Father  Padilla,  of  the  same  order,  died  by  the  hands 
of  the  Indians,  near  the  waters  of  the  Missouri.  By  1559  Dominicans  were 
traversing  the  territories  of  the  Mobilian  tribes  from  Pensacola  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi ; and  when  Melandez  founded  St.  Augustine,  it  became  a mission 
centre,  whence  the  Jesuit  Missionaries  threaded  the  Atlantic  coast  to  Chesa- 
peake Bay  and  the  banks  of  the  Rappahannock,  before  they  left  that  field  to 
the  Franciscans,  who  dotted  Florida  and  Georgia  with  their  mission  chapels.”^ 

And  here  in  our  own  New  England,  waiving  again  the  story  implied  by 
the  fact  that  in  1508,  Indians,  who  had  been  brought  from  the  north  of  the 
new  lands,  received  baptism  within  the  walls  of  a cathedral  in  France,  let 
us  tell  what  is  authenticated. 

In  1611  Father  Peter  Baird  and  Father  Enamond  Masse  came  to  Port 
Royal.  Father  Biard  soon  after  visited  the  coast  as  far  as  the  Kennebec, 
and  tried  to  teach  Christianity  to  the  Abenakis. 

A missionary  settlement  was  soon  after  built,  a cross  raised,  and  mass 
publicly  said  on  Mt.  Desert  Island,  Maine.  This  settlement  of  St.  Saviour 
was  battered  down  in  1613  by  the  cannon  from  the  ship  of  the  English  cap- 
tain, Argali,  from  Virginia,  who  destroyed  the  town,  robbed  the  inhabitants, 
stripping  them  of  all  they  possessed,  enslaving  some,  turning  others  adrift  in 
open  boats  upon  the  sea,  and  abandoning  the  remainder  to  the  mercy  of  the 
wild  beasts  and  men  of  a savage  country. 

The  Pilgrims  were  yet  working  in  the  woollen  mills  of  Holland.  Seven 
years  shall  have  passed  before  they  see  the  Rock  of  Plymouth  (1620),  nine 
years  before  the  building  of  “a  strong  palisade  and  a substantial  fort  (used 
also  on  Sundays  as  a meeting  house  ”),  and  not  till  ten  years  afterwards 
(1629)  shall  they  rejoice  in  the  ministrations  of  Ralph  Smith,  the  first 
ordained  minister  whose  teaching  shall  be  acceptable  to  them. 

It  appears,  then,  that  if  right  be  given  by  priority  of  presence,  the  right 
from  a hundred  counts  is  ours.  But  we  claim  no  right,  and  we  concede  none. 
We  ask  no  favor.  Give  us  a fair  field,  and  put  aside  the  passions  and  preju- 

1 J.  Gilmory  Shea,  “ Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America,”  Windsor  Ed.,  Vol.  4,  c.  6. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


o 


dices  that  have  root  in  ignorant  malice,  and  for  which  men  will  speak  words 
of  shame-faced  sorrow  by  and  by,  and  take  us  as  neighbors  and  countrymen, 
who,  in  love  of  God  and  native  land,  are  the  peers  of  the  best.  Hatred  and 
mistrust  do  not  make  converts.  The  flame  of  ten  persecutions  did  not 
destroy  the  early  Church  ; and  the  blind  hate  which  put  a price  on  the 
head  of  the  saintly  missionary,  Sebastian  Rasle,  and  butchered  him  in  the 
midst  of  his  neophytes  at  the  foot  of  the  missionary  cross,  and  made  his  reek- 
ing scalp  an  occasion  for  a Boston  holiday,  with  public  thanksgiving  by  her 
ministers,  did  not  kill  the  Church  in  New  England;  neither  did  the  burning 
of  the  convent  at  Charlestown,  nor  the  tarring  and  feathering  of  Father 
Bapst  at  Ellsworth,  nor  did  all  the  hate  and  fury  of  the  Knownothings  of 
years  agone,  nor  will  now  the  hissing  in  the  night  of  the  new  reptilian  brood, 
the  treasonable  order  of  the  A.  P.  A. 

“Go  into  the  whole  world,”  said  Christ  . . . “and  behold  I am  with 
you.”  Therefore,  when  the  dust  of  each  new  conflict  settles,  the  Church  is 
seen  the  more  resplendent,  and  the  people  in  every  land  where  she  battles 
only  marvel  the  more  at  the  steadiness  and  certainty  of  her  majestic  advance. 
Nowhere  has  prejudice  been  more  furiously  blind,  and  nowhere  has  the 
growth  of  the  true  Church  been  more  remarkable  than  here,  in  what  is  called 
the  Province  of  Boston,  embracing  all  New  England. 

For  nearly  three-quarters  of  a century  before  1700,  France  and  England 
were  almost  continually  at  war,  and  the  intense  hostility  felt  by  the  rival 
peoples  in  the  old  lands  was  shared  by  their  colonies  in  New  England  and 
New  France.  English  and  American  Protestant  writers  attribute  the  cause 
of  the  wars  here  to  the  pretext  made  by  the  French  of  protecting  the  eastern 
Indians  from  the  encroachments  of  the  English  settlers,  and  say  that  the 
French  missionaries  constantly  incited  their  neophytes  to  attack  the  New 
England  frontiers.  French  and  Canadian  Catholics,  on  the  other  hand,  tell 
that  the  English  made  incursions  into  the  country  of  the  Abanakis  and  mas- 
sacred Indian  men,  women  and  children,  robbed  and  desecrated  their  chapels, 
and  butchered  the  missionary  priests  who  served  them. 

According  to  Father  de  Charlevoix,  “The  English  had  made  incursions 
in  the  country  of  the  Abanakis,  and  had  massacred  all  those  whom  they  could 
find  ; whereupon  the  chiefs  asked  for  help  of  M.  de  Vaudreuil,  the  Governor 
of  New  France,  and  he  sent  to  them  during  the  winter  two  hundred  and  fifty 
men  commanded  by  Sr.  Hertel  de  Rouville,  with  four  of  his  brothers.  Rou- 
ville’s  expedition  consisted  of  French  and  Indians.  They,  in  their  turn,  took 
the  English  by  surprise,  killed  many  men  and  made  one  hundred  and  fifty 
prisoners.  They  lost  but  three  Frenchmen  and  a few  Indians.  Rouville 
himself  was  wounded  in  the  action.’”  In  these  words  the  historian  plainly 
refers  to  the  expedition  which  in  our  books  is  called  the  Deerfield  massacre. 
The  Indians  mentioned  were  the  Caughnawaga  Iroquios  and  Abanakis  of  St. 
Francis.  That  they  joined  with  the  French  in  the  war  was  natural.  The 
French  were  their  friends  ; the  French  brought  them  Christianity,  and  always 
protected  them  from  the  English  settlers  and  soldiery.  The  terrible  massacre 

’ Hist,  de  la  Nouvelle  France,  Tom.  3,  page  428,  edit.  1744. 


6 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


at  Deerfield  was  no  worse  than  that  which  was  perpetrated  by  the  English  a 
short  time  before  amid  the  lodges  of  the  Abanakis.  It  was  a measure  of  re- 
prisal ; and  if  the  methods  followed  are  frightful  in  our  eyes  to-day,  they 
were  the  methods  that  obtained  on  either  side  then.'  The  taking  of  prisoners 
to  Canada  was  natural  too.  The  English  took  Indian  children  who  escaped 
their  fire.  The  difference  of  treatment  accorded  captives  was  frequently  to 
the  credit  of  the  Catholic  French  and  Indians.  They  sent  their  captives 
back  to  their  friends  through  ransom,  or  reared  them  in  their  own  homes  as 
members  of  the  family  or  the  tribe.  They  shared  with  them  all  they  had.  The 
English  took  few  prisoners,  and  when  they  did,  did  not  always  hesitate  to  treat 
them  with  the  utmost  harshness.  The  Deerfield  captives  were  so  won  by  the 
treatment  given  them  by  their  masters,  that  afterwards,  when  in  1706  peace 
was  declared  and  liberty  given  them  twenty-eight  refused  to  return  ; they 
preferred  to  stay  all  their  days  with  those  who  had  given  them  place  by  the 
fire,  room  in  the  family  heart,  and  faith  in  the  ancient  mother  church.  Rev. 
Father  Forbes  has  traced  for  the  writer,  by  the  aid  of  his  church  records  at 
Caughnawaga  and  local  family  traditions,  the  records  of  Eunice  Williams,  a 
boy  and  girl  named  McGregor,  Joseph  Rising,  Abigail  Nimbs  and  others 
from  Deerfield,  and  Silas  and  Timothy  Rice  from  Westboro. 

Eunice  Williams  was  the  daughter  of  the  minister  at  Deerfield.  Abigail 
Nimbs  and  Ignatius  Rising  afterwards  married,  and  from  their  children  gave 
several  eminent  clergymen  and  religious  women  to  the  church  in  Canada. 
Their  daughter,  almost  in  their  own  day,  became  tlie  lady  superior  of  all  the 
Sisters  of  the  Congregation.  With  them  remained  Martha  French,  whose 
grandson,  Joseph  Octave  Plessis,  in  1806,  became  the  first  archbishop  of  the 
See  of  Quebec.  In  the  fall  of  1740,  Eunice  Williams,  accompanied  by  other 
captives  taken  from  Deerfield,  returned  on  a visit  to  her  father,  as  she  did 
several  times  thereafter,  even  as  late  as  1761,  but  never  could  be  persuaded  to 
stay  with  her  kinsfolk.  The  General  Court  promised  her  a grant  of  land,  on 
condition  that  she  and  her  husband,  the  Caughnawaga  chieftain,  Ambrose 

’ Tradition  has  it  that  the  French  and  Indians  came  on  this  terrible  winter  journey 
to  take  back  to  Canada  the  bell  which  hung  in  the  village  church  at  Deerfield.  This  bell 
was  sent  to  Canada,  as  one  story  has  it,  for  a Catholic  church,  and  a colonial  privateer 
forcibly  took  it  from  a French  vessel.  Another  says  that  a French  lady  had  given  it  to 
the  Jesuit  Fathers  for  their  little  mission  chapel  among  the  Indians,  and  when  this 
chapel  was  desecrated  and  the  poor  people  massacred.by  the  English  marauding  expedi- 
tion, the  bell  was  taken  to  Deerfield.  The  Indians  came  to  get'Jheir  bell,  and  after  secur- 
ing it  took  it  awaj^  on  sledges  to  Canada,  and  there,  in  the  little  church  of  St.  Regis,  it 
calls  the  people  to  services  even  to  this  day.  Barber  says  in  his  Historical  Recollections, 
page  252,  that  this  bell  was  taken  on  a sledge  as  far  as  Lake  Champlain  and  buried  and 
was  afterwards  taken  up  and  sent  to  Canada.  The  pastor  of  Caughnawaga,  Father  J.  G. 
L.  Forbes,  has  small  confidence  in  the  truth  of  this  legend  of  the  bell,  and  says  that  its 
attribution  to  St.  Regis  was  impossible,  since  that  village  did  not  exist  until  1758,  and 
moreover  that  there  are  no  records  found  in  Deerfield  in  regard  to  it.  Parkman  also  does 
not  believe  the  story,  and  gives  his  reason  in  a foot-note  on  page  88,  Vol.  I.,  of  his 
“ Half  Century  of  Conflict,”  where  he  seems  to  believe  the  pervert,  Eleazer  Williams  was 
first  responsible  for  it,  and  he  calls  the  conjecture,  that  the  story  is  true,  only  the  name 
Caughnawaga  should  be  substituted  for  St.  Regis,  ” weak.” 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD.  T 

would  remain  in  New  England.  She  refused  on  the  ground  that  it  would 
“ endanger  her  soul.”  Her  father  had  a day  of  fasting  and  public  prayer  for 
her  conversion,  at  Deerfield,  and,  while  the  people  in  the  village  church 
offered  up  their  petitions,  Eunice,  in  company  with  her  friend,  Mary  Harris, 
also  a captive,  remained  outside  quietly  and  contentedly  telling  the  beads  of 
her  rosary.  When  the  visit  was  done,  she  bade  farewell  to  her  people,  and 
returned  again  to  the  heart’ s-ease  of  the  mission  chapel,  to  her  lodge  fires,  and 
to  the  love  of  her  Indian  husband  and  his  Mohawk  children.^  Her  descendants 
are  at  Caughnawaga  to-day,  and,  about  the  mission  altar  just  above  the  rolling 
St.  Eawrence,  still  fervently  pray  to  the  God  of  their  Catholic  ancestress.  In 
the  same  month  and  year  that  Eunice  Williams  returned  to  Deerfield,  Timo- 
thy Rice,  with  the  Tarbells  of  Groton,  came  again  to  visit  his  old  home  in 
Westboro.  He,  too,  had  become  a Catholic,  and  a chieftain  amongst  the 
Indians  of  Caughnawaga.  Daniel  and  Mary  Serjent,  children  of  Digory  Ser- 
jent,  of  Worcester,  made  a visit  at  this  time,  and  returned  again  to  Canada. 

The  Acadians  of  Worcester  are  the  next  Catholics  whose  story  we  know. 
In  1755,  a thousand  “French  neutrals,”  as  the  poor  Acadians  were  called, 
arrived  at  Boston,  in  the  beginning  of  the  winter,  and  were  distributed 
through  the  several  towns  of  Massachusetts.  Eleven  were  sent  to  Worcester. 
They  consisted  of  an  aged  man  and  woman,  “ sixty-five  or  seventy  years  old,” 
a girl  of  seventeen  years,  four  sons  of  the  old  couple,  Labere  by  name,  Justin 
White  and  wife,  “aged  about  thirty,”  and  three  small  children,  one  of  whom 
was  born  in  Worcester. 

In  1806,  Father  John  Cheverus,  afterwards  the  first  bishop  of  Bostoif, 
came  to  Northampton  to  prepare  two  men  for  death.  They  were  Dominick 
Daly  and  James  Halligan.  They  were  accused  of  murder,  and  died  on  the 
gallows,  in  the  presence  of  fifteen  thousand  people,  “scarcely  one  of  whom 
had  a doubt  of  their  guilt.”  Their  innocence  was  established  a quarter  of  a 
century  later  by  the  confession  of  a certain  native  of  the  town,  who,  when 
dying,  admitted  that  he  was  the  “ murderer  of  the  mail-carrier.”  The  inhab- 
itants of  Northampton  received  Father  Cheverus  with  averted  eyes.  The  day 
of  the  execution,  in  spite  of  the  attempted  hindrance  of  the  Protestant  min- 
isters, he  preached  to  the  assembled  multitude ; and  so  much  divine  energy 
and  high  principle  did  his  sermon  evince,  that  altogether  he  won  the  hearts 
of  the  Puritans  who  listened.  They  became  his  friends  and  admirers,  who 
before  had  been  his  enemies. 

In  the  year  1805  there  were  ninety-four  baptisms  in  Boston.  This  was 
five  years  before  the  great  and  saintly  Cheverus  was  raised  to  the  Episcopate. 
There  were  then  in  all  New  England  but  two  priests.  Father  Thayer  had 
died,  and  the  broad  vineyard  of  the  Lord  knew  but  the  labors  of  the  two 
zealous  Fathers,  Francis  Matignon  and  John  Cheverus.  On  the  loth  day  of 
April,  1805,  Dr.  Matignon  baptized  a child  of  the  Fitton  family.  This  child, 
James,  became  in  God’s  time  the  great  missionary  of  New  England,  and  the 

’Parkman,  Half  Century  of  Conflict,  Vol.  i,  page  87;  Bancroft’s  Hist.,  page  214 
and  218,  Vol.  3 ; Holland’s  Hist.  West  Mass.,  page  156;  see  Parish  Hist,  of  Deerfield  and 
Longmeadow. 


8 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


builder  of  the  first  church  within  the  lines  now  markino^  the  diocese  of 
Springfield. 

Three  great  priests,  Matignon,  Cheverus  and  Fenwick  had  to  do  with 
the  builing  up  of  Father  Fitton’s  character,  and  each  in  turn  gave  something 
of  his  spirit.  Matignon  baptized  him.  Bishop  Cheverus  confirmed  him,  and 
began  his  education  for  the  ministry,  and  Bishop  Fenwick  completed  his 
training  and  crowned  his  young  life  by  ordaining  him  a priest  in  the  ember 
days  of  December,  1827. 

At  about  this  time  Bishop  Fenwick  had  applied  to  the  Propaganda  for 
priests  who  would  devote  their  lives  to  the  Indians  in  Maine.  The  Protest- 
ant missionary,  thongh  uninvited,  was  amongst  them  with  his  Bibles  and 
gold  and  schools,  doing  all  he  could  to  draw  them  from  the  old  faith.  This 
made  necessary  the  immediate  presence  of  a priest  with  them ; and  while 
waiting  the  missionaries  from  Rome,  Father  Fitton  was  sent  into  Maine.  In 
this  blessed  work  he  spent  a year ; then  came  the  Fathers  from  Rome,  and 
he  was  left  free  in  the  broad  building  of  God’s  house  in  New  England.  He 
passed  and  repassed,  time  and  again,  through  each  of  the  New  England 
States,  wherever  he  heard  of  a Catholic  living,  or  thought  that  his  priestly 
administrations  would  be  required. 

To-day,  in  six  States,  seven  great  diocesan  cathedrals  lift  their  lofty  spires 
to  heaven,  and  seven  mitred  bishops  with  an  Archbishop  hold  spiritual  sway, 
where,  hardly  more  than  half  a century  ago,  he  stood  with  uncovered  head  by 
the  wayside,  and  preached  to  a handful  of  gathered  Catholics.  Stations  were 
established  by  him  in  many  places  throughout  Connecticut  and  Rhode 
Island  ; and  in  Massachusetts,  at  Springfield,  Amherst,  Barre,  Blackstone, 
Chicopee,  Barrington,  Northampton,  Ware,  Warren,  Webster,  Westfield, 
and  Worcester.  Under  his  care  the  corner-stone  of  the  first  church  in  the 
now  diocese  of  Springfield  was  laid  July  7,  1834,  at  Worcester. 

The  church  was  called  Christ’s  Church.  It  was  a small  frame  building 
62x32  feet.  The  people  were  unable  to  do  more  than  lay  the  foundations  the 
first  year.  Over  the  altar  was  a rude  covering  of  a few  rough  boards,  but 
the  rest  of  the  place  was  absolutely  unprotected. 

The  writer  has  known  people  who  assisted  at  that  first  mass,  made 
memorable,  among  other  things,  by  one  of  those  sudden  and  terrific  summer 
storms  of  thunder  and  lightning.  It  burst  over  the  people  at  the  time  of  the 
Elevation.  Three  men  of  the  congregation,  who  had  noticed  the  swift 
gathering  of  the  storm,  hastened  for  iimbrellas,  and,  when  it  broke,  held 
them  over  the  altar  and  the  head  of  Father  Fitton,  moving  with  him  as  he 
advanced  in  the  progress  of  the  sacrifice,  and  so  continued  till  the  mass  was 
over.  The  unprotected  congregation  remained  upon  its  knees ; not  a soul 
stirred,  though  every  one  was  drenched  to  the  skin. 

In  1835  the  walls  were  raised  and  the  building  roofed.  In  two  years 
from  the  beginning,  it  was  completed,  and  “ paid  for  by  the  Irish  laborers 
employed  upon  the  railroad.”  In  1836  Father  Fitton  made  his  home  at 
Worcester,  and  thus  we  have  the  first  church,  and  the  first  settled  pastor 
within  the  confines  of  the  Springfield  diocese. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


9 


Though  from  earliest  American  days,  and  all  through  the  colonial  period, 
traces  may  be  found  of  a few  Catholics  scattered  here  and  there  in  almost 
every  end  of  the  diocese,  it  is  not  until  1826,  1829,  and  1832  that  we  catch 
sight  of  the  advance  guard  of  the  faith,  the  great  laboring  armies  of  Irishmen, 
who  then  came  conquering  to  Worcester  and  the  Blackstone  valley,  and  to 
Chicopee  and  the  river  towns  to  the  north,  and  thence,  later  on,  through  all 
the  villages  on  the  lines  of  the  Great  Western  Railway  up  through  the  heart 
of  the  Berkshire  hills,  and  away  on  the  other  side  of  the  State  where  the 
Fitchburg  threaded  the  towns  along  the  banks  of  the  Nashua. 

At  Worcester  they  gathered  for  the  building  of  the  Blackstone  canal. 
They  came  for  the  opening  of  the  canals,  the  construction  of  the  railroads 
and  the  lifting  up  of  the  factories  to  Chicopee.  John  Chase,  whose  friendli- 
ness to  the  poor  Irish  of  Cabotville  earned  him  the  affectionate  sobriquet  of 
“Uncle  John,”  first  brought  them,  and  this  man  was  the  first  to  call  Father 
Fitton  hither  from  Hartford  to  attend  an  Irish  laborer  named  Peplin,  who, 
dying  from  injuries  received  in  an  accident  on  the  works,  lay  piteously  call- 
ing for  the  priest.  Mr.  Chase’s  sister,  Sebra,  a few  years  later,  was  a convert 
to  the  faith,  married  a Catholic  named  Michael  Murray,  and  now  sleeps  by 
his  side  in  the  parish  cemetery.  This  first  coming  of  the  missionary'  for  duty 
within  onr  borders  was  some  time  between  1832  and  1834.  Up  to  that  period 
there  was  not  a single  priest  stationed  within  the  lines  which  now  belt  our 
diocese.  Father  Fitton  was  the  pastor  at  Hartford,  and  as  a missionary  went 
up  and  down  from  Hartford  to  Chicopee,  and  from  Chicopee  west  to  Great 
Barrington,  and  from  Chicopee  eastward  again  towards  Boston.  His  succes- 
sor at  Hartford,  in  1836,  was  Father  John  Brady,  and  while  Father  Fitton 
looked  after  the  eastern  end  of  the  State,  and  especially  Worcester  county. 
Father  Brady  cared  for  the  interests  of  the  Catholics  in  the  counties  of  Hamp- 
den, Hampshire,  Franklin  and  Berkshire.  His  cousin.  Father  John  D.  Brady, 
became  the  pastor  of  Cabotville,  or  Chicopee,  in  1841,  and  thenceforward 
gave  close  attention  to  all  the  Catholics  between  the  Brookfields  and  the  New 
York  and  Vermont  State  lines. 

In  October,  1845,  Rev.  Bernard  O’Cavanangh  came  as  his  assistant,  and 
these  three  men.  Fathers  Fitton,  Brady  and  O’Cavanangh,  divided  amongst 
them  the  responsibilities  for  the  care  of  the  Catholic  people. 

After  Father  Fitton,  who  went  to  Newport,  R.  I.,  in  1843,  there  came  to 
Worcester  an  English  priest  of  remarkable  parts.  Rev.  Matthew  Gibson.  He, 
more  than  any  other,  deserves  credit  for  the  building  np  of  the  church  in 
Worcester  county.  He  was  a marvel  of  energy,  and  before  his  departure,  in 
1856,  had  actually  built  parish  churches:  St.  John  and  St.  Anne’s,  at  Wor- 
cester ; St.  Polycarp’s,  at  Leicester ; St.  Bernard’s,  Fitchbnrgh  ; St.  Luke’s, 
West  Boylston;  St.  Louis’,  Webster;  St.  Bridget’s,  Millbnry ; St.  Martin’s, 
Templeton;  St.  Leo’s,  Leominster;  and  founded  the  congregations  of  Sonth- 
bridge,  Spencer,  Holden,  Leicester,  Gardner,  Barre,  Uxbridge,  Grafton, 
Whitinsville,  Winchendon,  and  at  other  places  not  within  our  lines.  Scarcely 
a corner  of  the  whole  country  but  knew  his  face,  and  wherever  a handful  of 
railroad  men,  or  those  who  worked  in  the  factories,  happened  to  be.  Father 


10 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Gibson  sought  them  out,  attended  to  their  spiritual  wants,  and  kept  alive  in 
their  breasts  the  faith  in  which  they  were  born. 

From  1847  Rev.  John  Boyce,  famous  in  the  literary  world  as  “Paul 
Peppergrass,”  kept  pace  with  Father  Gibson  in  his  apostolic  work,  and,  after 
the  going  of  the  latter,  labored  on  alone  for  a few  years,  and  then  with  the 
aid  of  others  up  to  his  death,  in  1864.  He  built  churches  in  Clinton  and 
Milford,  and  repaired  and  enlarged  the  church  in  Worcester  and  the  many 
missionary  chapels  throughout  the  county. 

While  these  men  wese  laboring  in  Worcester  county  Father  John  D. 
Brady  and  Father  O’Cavanaugh  were  working  with  equal  zeal  and  with  equal 
success  in  Western  Massachusetts.  Father  Brady  built  churches  in  Chicopee 
and  Pittsfield,  and  founded  congregations  in  a score  of  towns  in  Berkshire, 
Hampshire,  F'ranklin  and  Hampden  counties. 

Father  O’ Cavanaugh  became  pastor  in  Pittsfield  in  1849  and  the  sur- 
rounding towns  knew  his  care  for  the  few  years  following  before  the  coming 
of  that  other  great  missionary.  Rev.  Patrick  Cuddihy.  Father  Cuddihy  was 
the  originator  of  many  congregations  in  the  Berkshires.  He  enlarged  the 
church  at  Pittsfield,  reared  another  at  Great  Barrington,  bought  one  from  the 
Protestants  at  North  Adams  and  altered  it  for  Catholic  services,  built  one,  which 
is  yet  in  service  at  Lee,  and  made  himself  a power  for  good  and  the  Catholic 
name  a tower  of  respect  in  all  the  villages  amongst  the  hills.  Then  Hampden, 
Hampshire  and  the  western  side  of  Worcester  county  knew  the  administra- 
tion of  Rev.  Jeremiah  O’ Callaghan  and  the  saintly  and  gentle  Father  Blenkin- 
sop,  of  Chicopee,  and,  after  them,  that  “Lion  of  the  fold  of  Judah,”  Rev. 
Patrick  Healy,  afterwards  the  vicar-general  of  the  western  end  of  the  diocese, 
and  the  pioneer  of  Catholic  parochial  schools  within  its  lines.  In  the  same 
period,  and  for  some  years  before,  the  two  French-Canadian  priests.  Fathers 
L’Eveqne  and  Migneault,  were  assisting  in  the  work  of  God  throughout 
Worcester  county.  They  labored  in  Spencer,  the  Brookfields,  Webster  and 
the  surrounding  towns. 

The  famine  and  the  fever  in  1847  forced  the  Irish  from  the  old  land  in 
ship  loads;  the  war  in  1861  called  others;  after  the  war  the  quickened  indus- 
tries drew  them  still ; so  that  in  the  second  half  of  the  sixties  our  people 
were  coming  into  our  lines  by  tlie  thousands,  and  churches  began  springing 
up  everywhere.  And  these  were  no  longer  the  frame  buildings  that  had 
answered  the  missionary  wants.  They  were  of  brick  and  stone,  and  embel- 
lished as  far  as  money  and  love  could  do  it.  There  had  been  some  Canadian 
French  in  the  diocese  from  the  beginning,  but  not  until  this  period  did 
they  come  in  any  considerable  numbers.  They  hurried  over  the  borders 
now,  and  joined  their  Irish  brethren  in  the  spreading  of  God’s  church.  They 
came  for  work  in  the  factories,  and  for  the  felling  of  the  forests,  for  labor  in 
the  brickyards,  and  later  on  for  place  amongst  the  workers  in  wood.  Father 
A.  B.  Dufresne  came  in  1 869,  and  made  his  home  in  Holyoke.  He  was  the 
first  to  assume  their  spiritual  care.  His  people  have  been  coming  in  streams 
ever  since. 

The  diocese  of  Springfield,  embracing  the  counties  of  Worcester,  Hamp- 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


11 


den,  Hampshire,  Franklin  and  Berkshire,  was  setoff  from  Boston  in  1870; 
and  Rev.  Patrick  Thomas  O’Reilly,  Pastor  of  St.  John’s  Church,  Worcester, 
was  named  its  first  bishop.  He  was  consecrated  September  25,  1870,  by 
Archbishop,  afterward  Cardinal,  McCloskey,  at  Springfield.  There  were 
then  38  parish  churches,  43  priests,  2 parochial  schools,  12  sisters,  i college, 
and  I orphanage. 

CHAPTER  II. 

CHURCH  AND  PARISH  SCHOOL. 

(5  I HE  county  of  Cavan,  in  Ireland,  has  been  called  by  a prelate  “ the 
^ I county  of  virgins,”  and  indeed  it  appears  to  deserve  the  title  from  the 
great  number  of  able  and  pious  priests  it  has  given  to  the  church 
throughout  the  English-speaking  world.  In  Ireland  and  the  British  Isles, 
in  America,  Australia,  and  wherever  in  India  and  Africa  the  English  flag  is 
unfurled,  there  are  known  the  good  works  of  the  priestly  children  of  Cavan. 
At  least  two  of  our  New  England  bishops,  both  of  the  name  O’Reilly,  were 
sons  of  Cavan ; and  scores  of  our  priests  in  the  diocese  of  Hartford,  Provi- 
dence and  Springfield  had  the  souls  within  them  first  fired  in  missionary  zeal 
by  the  stories  told  them  on  the  hillsides  of  old  Breffini,  of  the  works  done 
for  God  by  their  kin. 

Full  of  this  spirit,  so  common  to  his  race,  was  Rt.  Rev.  Patrick  Thomas 
O’Reilly,  first  Bishop  of  Springfield.  He  was  the  son  of  Philip  O’Reilly 
and  Mary  Conaty,  and  was  born  in  December,  1833.  He  began  his  classical 
studies  with  a famous  schoolmaster  of  his  native  town  named  Boylan,  father 
of  Rev.  Charles  Boylan,  of  our  diocese.  He  completed  his  course  at  St. 
Charles’s  College,  Maryland,  and  then  studied  theology  the  ordinary  term  at 
St.  Mary’s,  Baltimore.  He  was  ordained  in  the  Cathedral  of  the  Holy  Cross, 
Boston,  by  Bishop  Bacon,  on  the  Feast  of  the  Assumption,  August  15,  1857. 
Bishop  Fenwick,  who  was  to  ordain  him,  was  too  ill  to  be  present  at  the 
ceremony.  With  the  exception  of  a short  period  passed  in  Boston,  where  he 
founded  St.  Joseph’s  church,  the  whole  time  of  his  priesthood  was  spent  at 
St.  John’s,  Worcester. 

There  are  those  yet  living  in  St.  John’s  parish,  Worcester,  who  remember 
as  yesterday  when  the  young  priest  came  amongst  them,  and  made  them  all 
his  own  by  his  gentleness  of  soul.  He  was  then  of  striking  and  unusual 
comeliness  of  person,  tall,  of  good  proportion,  dark-haired,  beautiful  of  face, 
with  notably  high  arched  brows,  from  under  which  looked  out  pleasantly 
those  keen  gray  Irish  eyes,  which  we  have  seen  a hundred  times  flash  with 
fun  or  spirit,  or  soften  like  a woman’s  when  a tale  for  sympathy  was  told. 
One  who  wrote  of  Bishop  O’Reilly  said  that  he  was  fortunate  beyond  other 
exiles,  in  that  “ friends  of  influence  and  wealth  welcomed  him,”  when  he 
came  a boy  to  this  country.  He  was  more  fortunate  after  ordination  when 
he  was  sent  as  curate  to  Rev.  John  Boyce,  the  famous  “ Paul  Peppergu'ass,” 
a man  of  extraordinary  literary  talents  and  eloquence.  The  writer  has  heard 
the  bishop  say,  that  he  considered  Father  Boyce,  when  at  his  best,  the  most 
eloquent  preacher  he  had  heard,  and,  in  his  judgment,  superior  to  the  great 


12 


DIOCESE  Of  SPRINGEIELD. 


Dominican,  Father  Tom  Bnrke.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  association  with 
such  a man  would  beget  a love  for  letters  and  sacred  oratory  ; and,  where  the 
natural  disposition  existed,  as  in  the  case  of  Father  O’Reilly,  the  soil  with 
little  labor  brought  abundant  fruit.  The  young  priest  was  soon  known  as 
an  easy  and  graceful  writer  and  speaker  ; and  to  the  end,  spite  of  cares  and 
illness,  the  bishop  retained  these  powers. 

He  was  consecrated  when  thirty-seven  years  of  age,  and  was  then  the 
youngest  bishop  in  the  country.  Some  one  says  that  Rome,  though  not 
infallible  in  her  choice  of  bishops,  seems  guided  by  a marvellous  wisdom, 
and  ever  puts  the  right  man  in  the  place.  It  was  the  case  with  Bishop 
O’Reilly.  He  thoroughly  knew  the  nature  of  the  work  his  priests  had  to  do. 
Every  kind  of  priestly  labor  had  been  his  own, — controversy,  preaching,  lec- 
turing, catechizing,  and  the  mission  with  its  long  drives,  its  cold  and  wet. 
When,  therefore,  he  became  a bishop  he  had,  above  all  other  qualities,  know- 
ledge of  the  work  to  be  done  by  his  priests,  and  compassion  for  the  workers. 
He  was  never  heavy-handed  with  them.  He  was  the  father  rather  than  the 
chieftain,  and  his  priests  saw  the  gentler  side  of  his  character  oftenest  in  all 
their  dealings  with  him.  We  all  knew  how  sweet  peace  was  to  him,  and 
every  man  made  effort  to  ward  away  trouble.  His  rule  was  singularly  free 
from  scandalous  quarreliugs.  “ I have  the  best  priests  in  the  world,”  the 
writer  has  heard  him  say  a score  of  times,  and  he  rejoiced  that  God  had  so 
blessed  him  ; but  we  knew  that  his  own  gentleness  had  quickened  our  loyalty 
and  our  glad  obedience. 

Though  his  eye  was  on  every  end  of  his  diocese,  his  disposition  was 
to  leave  his  priests  unhampered  in  their  work,  and  each  man  dependent  on 
his  own  resources.  The  result  of  this  confidence  was  shown  in  an  unusual 
development  of  business  energy  in  the  pastorate,  so  marked  that  his  diocese 
came  even  in  his  lifetime  to  be  rated  with  the  best  in  the  land,  both  in  the 
ability  and  character  of  its  priests,  and  in  the  varied  excellence  of  its  institu- 
tions. The  bishop  had  large  capacity  for  work.  In  the  twenty-one  years  of 
his  episcopate  he  confirmed  the  remarkable  number  of  77,000  persons  ; he 
ordained  many  priests  ; laid  nearly  a hundred  corner-stones  of  churches  and 
chapels  and  schools  ; dedicated  forty-five  temples  to  God,  and  opened  the 
doors  of  hospitals  and  orphanages  to  the  sick  and  poor,  and  to  the  thousands 
of  God’s  little  ones.  He  died  May  28,  1892,  mourned  by  priests  and  people, 
and  was  laid  at  rest  in  the  vault  under  the  cathedral  he  loved  so  well. 

Catholic  interests  were  making  rapid  strides  the  year  the  division  was  made, 
and  after  the  consecration  of  Bishop  O’Reilly,  as  was  natural,  the  priests  of 
the  new  diocese,  with  freshened  zeal,  took  to  the  labors  of  their  high  office. 
The  Irish  and  Canadians  were  yet  coming  in  great  numbers.  Just  at  this 
time  were  welcomed  the  two  French-Canadian  priests.  Fathers  Louis  Gagnier, 
now  of  Springfield,  and  Charles  Crevier,  of  Holyoke.  Father  Gagnier  built 
churches  and  formed  his  people  into  parishes  here  and  there  through  Worces- 
ter county,  in  portions  of  Hampshire,  and  in  several  places  in  Hampden.  He 
is  to-day  the  most  patriarchal  and  best  beloved  of  his  race  amongst  us.  Father 
Crevier  labored  in  the  Berkshire  Hills,  and  founded  congregations  at  North 


0 


dxf, 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


13 


Adams,  Adams,  and  Williamstown,  besides  assuming  the  care  of  other  mis- 
sions to  which  the  bishop  appointed  him.  The  building  of  churches  was 
constantly  going  on,  and  dedications  and  corner-stone  layings,  with  their 
attendant  grand  ceremonies,  were  almost  monthly  occurrences.  Father  Hark- 
ins built  churches  at  Holyoke  and  South  Hadley  ; Very  Rev.  Father  Healy 
at  Indian  Orchard,  Chicopee  Falls  and  Mitteneague  ; Father  Charles  Hynch  at 
North  Adams  and  Adams ; Father  Thomas  Smyth  at  Westfield  and  Huntington, 
and  a score  of  other  priests  built  one  or  more  elsewhere  in  the  diocese.  In  the 
twenty-one  years  of  Bishop  O’Reilly’s  pontificate  forty-one  churches  were 
dedicated.  When  we  keep  in  mind  that  each  one  of  these  supposes  a corner- 
stone laying,  and  that  the  same  thing  is  true  in  the  case  of  parochial  schools, 
we  may  get  some  notion  of  the  constant  activity  in  our  diocesan  life. 

As  soon  as  the  church  or  chapel  was  built  and  ready  for  the  respectful 
worship  of  God,  priests  and  people  began  to  turn  attention  to  the  building  of 
parish  schools.  We  have  already  spoken  of  the  first  three  priests  stationed 
for  labor  within  what  now  makes  border  for  our  diocese.  Fathers  Fitton  of 
Worcester  in  1836,  John  D.  Brady  at  Chicopee  in  1841,  and  his  assistant  after 
1845,  Rev.  Bernard  O’ Cavanaugh. 

It  is  of  interest  to  note  that  these  men  were  not  only  the  pioneers  in  the 
formation  of  parishes  and  the  building  of  churches  and  chapels,  but  in  the 
founding  of  Catholic  schools.  Father  Fitton  in  1840  opened  at  Worcester, 
on  Pakachoag,  or  Hill  of  Pleasant  Springs,  the  Seminary  of  Mount  St.  James, 
now  the  splendid  college  of  the  Holy  Cross.  In  1842  Father  Brady  began  in 
the  galleries  of  the  church  of  St.  Matthew’s,  at  Cabotville,  a parish  sehool, 
whose  twenty  pupils  knew  as  dominie,  Edward  P.  Gillan.  This  teacher 
afterwards,  in  his  fiftieth  year,  became  a priest,  and  served  as  chaplain  in  an 
Irish  Union  regiment  during  the  Civil  War.  Father  O’ Cavanaugh,  in  1849, 
was  pastor  of  Pittsfield  and  opened  in  1850  or  1851  a parish  school  in  the 
“Church  House,”  an  addition  built  against  the  church  proper  as  a home  for 
the  sexton.  A Mr.  William  Waldron,  a typical  Irish  school-master,  ruled 
here.  Father  O’Cavanaugh’ s school  was  built  as  shelter  for  the  Catholic 
children  whom  the  spirit  of  Know-Nothingism  would  not  let  be  at  peace  in 
the  public  schools.  There  was  a school  at  Fitchburg  in  1852,  and  another  in 
the  parish  of  St.  John  in  1864.  No  one  of  the  schools  mentioned  had  any 
measure  of  suecess.  Properly  speaking.  Father  Fitton’s  was  not  a parish 
school ; Father  Brady’s  was,  and  it  is  pleasant  to  mark  the  eoincidence  that 
afterwards,  when  parochial  school  work  was  taken  up  in  right  earnest,  the 
first  parish  school  within  this  diocese  was  built  in  1867  at  Chicopee,  and  the 
first  teachers  who  began  scientifically  to  labor  there  were  the  four  sisters  of 
Notre  Dame,  Albanie,  Mary  Rose,  Felieitas  and  Magdalene  of  St.  Joseph, 
who  came  thither  at  Father  Patrick  Healy’s  call  to  the  convent  of  the  Immac- 
ulate Heart  of  Mary.  These  good  sisters  were  not,  however,  the  first  nuns 
to  come  within  our  lines.  That  honor  belongs  to  Worcester,  to  old  St.  Anne’s, 
to  its  old-time  pastor,  now  the  venerable  Vicar-General  of  the  diocese.  Very 
Rev.  John  J.  Power,  and  to  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  who,  with  Sister  Mary 
Elizabeth  as  superior,  came  October  24th,  1864,  and  opened  a small  hospital 


14 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


close  to  the  church,  as  shelter  for  the  poor  and  for  the  sick  working  girls  of 
the  parish. 

In  these  two  communities  we  have  the  initial  of  all  the  great  bands  of 
teaching  and  hospital  nuns  of  our  diocese.  Old  St.  Anne’s  little  hospital  was  the 
first  that  either  Worcester  City  or  the  diocese  knew ; and  the  magnificent  build- 
ings now  at  Holyoke,  Springfield  and  Worcester,  under  the  care  of  that  splendid 
working  body,  the  Sisters  of  Providence,  and  the  other  houses  occupied  and 
ruled  by  the  Sisters  of  St.  Anne,  and  those  of  the  Gray  Nuns,  and  the  Little 
Franciscans,  together  with  the  Springfield  Refuge,  the  house  of  the  Sisters 
of  the  Good  Shepherd,  had  foreshadowing  here.  The  schools,  whose  crosses 
rise  beside  the  towers  of  our  churches  everywhere  throughout  the  five  counties 
winch  make  our  domain,  had  seed  in  that  little  community  of  Notre  Dame 
which  made  home  in  the  convent  of  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary  at 
Chicopee,  in  the  blessed  summer  of  1867. 

The  first  school  opened  on  the  second  day  of  September,  in  the  side 
chapel  of  the  church  of  the  Holy  name.  There  were  two  hundred  girls  in 
attendance. 

“Spes  messis  est  in  semine,”  “The  hope  of  the  harvest  is  in  the  seed.” 
Thus  reads  the  legend  over  the  stone  portals  of  the  greatest  training  school 
of  priests  in  North  America,  and  all  the  deeds  done  for  God  have  foreshadow- 
ing in  the  capacity  for  zeal  and  sacrifice  and  skill  in  spiritual  battle,  shown 
by  the  Levites  within  its  walls.  The  hope  of  the  harvest  was  in  good  seed 
when  the  daughters  of  Julia  Billiart  came  and  gave  their  lives.  When  the 
gentle  English  nun,  Albanie,  with  her  three  companions  of  Irish  blood,  came 
into  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  back  of  her  followed  in  the  shadow  all 
who  have  taught  here  since,  and  all  who  will  teach  in  the  years  to  come. 
Could  Father  Healy  have  seen  the  army  of  nuns  and  children  that  trooped 
that  day  behind  the  sisters,  how  his  great  heart  would  have  rejoiced!  He 
would  have  seen  children  of  many  races  led  on  by  nuns  in  black,  nuns  in 
brown  and  nuns  in  gray.  Father  Healy’s  school  has  widened  until  it  embraces 
in  its  shadow  forty-five  other  parish  schools.  The  four  nuns  have  become 
four  hundred  and  twenty-seven.  Notre  Dame  is  now  one  of  fifteen  orders  of 
religious  women,  and  two  orders  of  monks,  teaching  in  the  schools  of  the 
diooese,  and  the  two  hundred  children  of  that  first  day  now  make  up  the 
splendid  legions  of  seventeen  thousand  one  hundred  and  forty-six. 

In  1868  four  Sisters  came  to  teach  three  hundred  and  fifty  girls  in  Holy- 
oke. This  community  has  now  six  hundred  pupils  under  the  care  of  seven- 
teen sisters.  In  1872  some  sisters  of  this  same  order  came  to  Worcester  to 
teach  three  hundred  girls  ; there  are  now  thirty-four  sisters  having  charge  of 
eleven  hundred  pupils.  Next  Milford  called  them,  in  1880,  to  the  care  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  children  ; now  there  are  twelve  sisters  in  charge  of  two 
hundred  pupils.  In  our  diocese  to-day  there  are  ninety-one  sisters  of  Notre 
Dame  having  charge  of  three  thousand  and  twelve  children. 

November  13,  1849,  three  sisters  of  this  order  came  to  Boston,  with  Sis- 
ter Louise  de  Gonzaga  as  superior  ; just  fifty  years  later,  November  13,  1899, 
there  are  counted  in  Massachusetts  si.v  hundred  and  fifty  sisters  of  Notre 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


15 


Dame,  and  they  teach  eighteen  thousand  children.  These  sisters  teach  only 
girls  and  the  small  boys  in  the  primary  classes. 

The  first  school  for  boys  was  opened  in  St.  Jerome’s  parish,  Holyoke, 
whereto  the  sisters  of  Providence  came  to  the  charge  of  four  hundred  pupils. 
This  is  the  only  school  taught  in  the  diocese  by  this  congregation  of  sisters;  for 
with  this  exception  they  give  themselves  wholly  to  hospital  and  asylum  work. 

The  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  with  Sister  Cecilia  as  superior,  came  from 
Flushing,  Long  Island,  in  August,  i88i,  to  teach  iii  the  schools  at  Chicopee 
Falls.  They  found  upwards  of  five  hundred  children,  boys  and  girls.  They 
were  made  a diocesan  order  in  1884  by  Bishop  O’Reilly,  with  a Mother- 
House  in  the  cathedral  parish  at  Springfield.  Soon  communities  of  these 
sisters  sprang  up  in  several  parts  of  the  diocese.  They  have  convents  now  in 
the  cathedral  parish  at  Springfield,  where  is  the  magnificent  Mother-House, 
dedicated  by  Bishop  Beaven,  October  18,  1899  ! at  Chicopee  Falls;  the  Sacred 
Heart  parish,  Holyoke;  St.  Francis’,  North  Adams;  St.  Mary’s,  Northamp- 
ton ; St.  Joseph’s,  Pittsfield  ; St.  Mary’s,  Southbridge  ; St.  Louis’,  Webster  ; 
St.  Mary’s,  Westfield,  and  at  St.  Peter’s,  Worcester.  There  are  in  the  diocese 
one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  sisters,  twenty-seven  novices,  and  eight  pos- 
tulants, and  they  teach  three  thousand  three  hundred  and  seventy-nine 
children,  boys  and  girls. 

The  same  month  and  year  with  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  came  the  Sisters 
of  St.  Anne  from  Lachine,  Canada.  Seven  arrived  at  Worcester,  and  at 
the  church  of  Notre  Dame  des  Canadienes,  on  the  26th  day  of  August,  and 
opened  school  September  ist,  following.  Fourteen  sisters  teach  here  now. 
The  first  superior  was  Sister  Mary  Guardian  Angel.  In  1897,  on  Green 
street,  the  same  city.  Holy  Trinity  school,  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
Canadian  children  living  a distance  from  the  church,  was  established  with 
Sister  M.  Rose  de  Veterbe  as  superior.  Sister  Mary  Colombe  is  now  superior. 
A school  was  opened  in  the  parish  of  St.  Joseph,  Worcester,  October  7th, 
1886.  The  sisters  then  came  from  the  church  of  Notre  Dame,  but  in  1893 
their  convent  was  built  and  blessed  by  the  pastor,  Father  Graton,  and  they 
began  the  community  life  therein.  In  1893  the  school  was  opened  in  Wor- 
cester in  the  parish  of  the  Holy  Name  with  Sister  Mary  Hilare  as  superior. 
On  the  17th  day  of  August  that  same  year  a community  was  founded  at  Web- 
ster. Their  schools  here  opened  ou  the  second  day  of  September  following, 
when  seven  sisters,  under  direction  of  Sister  Mary  St.  Ange,  assumed  their 
care.  Sister  Mary  Ambrose  of  Jesus,  the  present  superior,  has  eleven  sisters 
with  her  in  the  work.  Next  a community  was  formed  at  Holyoke,  where 
they  replaced  the  Gray  Nuns  in  the  parish  of  the  Precious  Blood.  The  sisters 
taught  the  school  at  Southbridge  from  1881  to  1890.  In  Ware  four  sisters 
founded  a house  in  September,  1887,  and  organized  classes  for  school  work. 
Sister  Mary  St.  Ambrose  was  the  first  superior.  Sister  Mary  St.  Antheme 
is  in  charge  now,  and  seven  sisters  make  the  community.  A house  was 
founded  by  seven  sisters  from  Canada  in  North  Adams,  August  30th,  1890. 
The  school  opened  September  2d,  following,  and  for  seven  years  thereafter, 
the  sisters  taught  in  the  basement  of  the  church.  The  new  school  building 


16 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


was  ready  for  their  occupancy  in  1896.  The  first  superior  was  Sister  Mary 
des  Cinq  Plaies ; the  present  superior  is  Sister  Mary  Cyril.  In  1896  Sister 
Mary  Camille  de  Lellis  opened  schools  for  the  French  Canadians  at  Turner’s 
Falls.  Sister  Mary  Fuduxie  is  superior  there  now.  These  sisters  teach  in 
the  diocese  four  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty  boys  and  girls. 

Father  Garrigan,  paster  of  Fitchburg,  in  1886,  invited  the  Presentation 
Nuns,  then  teaching  in  St.  Michael’s  convent.  New  York  city,  to  take  charge 
of  his  parish  schools.  They  accepted,  and  the  pastor  of  St.  Bernard’s  that 
year  welcomed  them  to  the  school  halls  and  to  his  three  hundred  and  fifty 
children,  boys  and  girls.  Eight  sisters  began  this  foundation,  with  Mother 
Mary  Magdalene  as  superior.  Five  years  later  a mission  house  was  opened 
in  St.John’s  parish,  Clinton.  Nine  sisters  there  assumed  the  care  of  three 
hundred  boys  and  girls.  The  schools  now  have  three  hundred  and  sixty 
pupils.  Sister  Mary  Josephine  is  the  superior,  and  ten  sisters  comprise  the 
community. 

In  1890  a second  mission  house  was  opened  in  the  Sacred  Heart  parish. 
West  Fitchburg,  by  Rev.  J.  E.  Tarpey.  Four  Sisters  from  St.  Bernard’s  took 
the  care  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  children.  At  present  there  are  six 
sisters,  with  Mother  Mary  Magdalene  as  Superior,  engaged  in  teaching  two 
hundred  and  thirty  boys  and  girls.  In  St.  Bernard’s  parish  Father  Feehan, 
in  1893,  built  a mother-house  and  novitiate,  and  herein  the  novices  study  for 
two  years  after  profession  to  make  themselves  the  more  efficient  for  their  life 
work.  Father  Garrigan  in  1886  bought  the  Monroe  estate  in  the  suburbs  of 
the  city  for  the  sisters’  future  summer  home.  In  1890  the  community  came 
into  possession,  and  in  1899  Father  Feehan  built  hereon  a beautiful  convent. 
Here  the  sisters  spend  the  summer  months  in  study  and  in  works  of  religion. 
The  house  is  on  an  eminence  seven  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
and  commands  for  miles  around  a splendid  view  of  the  city,  the  river  and  the 
hills.  Forty-five  sisters  of  this  order  are  in  the  three  houses  of  the  diocese, 
and  they  teach  tweU'e  hundred  and  fifteen  boys  and  girls.  Rev.  Mother  Mary 
Rose  is  the  superior.  The  Presentation  Nuns  of  whom  we  speak  are  of  Irish 
origin,  and  to  make  distinction  between  them  and  the  other  order  of  the  same 
name  in  the  diocese,  they  are  spoken  of  as  the  daughters  of  Nauo  Nagle. 
This  holy  woman  was  their  foundress  in  1776  in  the  city  of  Cork,  Ireland. 

The  Sisters  of  Mercy  came  to  Nortli  Brookfield  in  1888.  They  are  eight 
in  number,  and  teach  tlu'ee  hundred  boys  and  girls. 

The  Sisters  of  the  Presentation  of  Mary,  who  now  teach  in  Holyoke,  are 
a French  order,  with  a provincial  house  at  St.  Hyacinthe,  Quebec.  The 
mother-house  is  at  Ardeche,  France.  From  St.  Hyacinthe  to  Holyoke,  August 
28,  1891,  six  sisters  came  in  the  care  of  Sister  St.  Louis  de  Gonzaga  as  supe- 
rior. They  opened  school  August  31st,  that  same  year,  with  436  pupils. 
Before  the  end  of  the  year  they  had  seven  hundred  and  eight  children.  The 
present  superior  is  Sister  Mary  of  the  Trinity. 

Eight  sisters  of  the  Assumption  from  Nicolet,  Province  of  Quebec,  came 
to  Southbridge  in  September,  1891.  One  year  later  six  more  sisters  estab- 
lished a mission  at  Spencer ; four  sisters  came  to  Indian  Orchard  August  29, 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGFIELD. 


17 


1895,  and  schools  under  their  direction  were  opened  that  same  year.  Sister 
Marie  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  is  superior  of  this  community  which  now 
numbers  eight  sisters.  The  sisters  of  this  order  number  twenty-seven  in  the 
diocese,  and  teach  sixteen  hundred  and  ninety-three  pupils. 

Four  Felician  Sisters  of  St.  Francis,  Salomea,  Felisia,  Gustolda,  and 
Anastasia,  assumed  charge  of  the  school  and  the  ninety  Polish  children  in 
St.  Joseph’s  parish,  Webster,  in  September,  1892.  Five  years  later,  at 
Chicopee,  three  sisters  of  the  same  order,  Felisia,  Davida  and  Maria,  formed 
another  community.  Webster  now  has  three  hundred  Polish  children,  boys 
and  girls,  in  the  school,  and  Chicopee  a hundred. 

Five  sisters  of  the  Holy  Cross  came  from  St.  Lawrence,  Province  of 
Quebec,  to  Fitchburg,  with  Sister  Mary  de  St.  Christina  as  superior,  August 
23,  1894.  Six  others  replaced  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  in  St.  Joseph’s  parish 
in  Springfield,  August  26th,  four  years  later,  with  Sister  Mary  St.  Cyprien 
as  their  superior.  Six  came  to  Adams  August  22,  1899,  with  Sister  Mary  de 
St.  Christina  superior  here  also.  The  sisters  at  Springfield  have  four  hun- 
dred pupils,  aud  those  at  Adams  six  hundred  and  fifty. 

The  community  of  the  Faithful  Companions  of  Jesus  were  called  to  St. 
Joseph’s  convent,  Fitchburg,  from  Paris,  France,  with  Sister  Philomena 
Higgins  as  superior,  to  teach  one  hundred  and  fifty  pupils.  They  now  num- 
ber fourteen  sisters,  and  have  under  their  charge  five  hundred  children. 

Six  sisters  of  St.  Joseph  came  from  Chambrey,  France,  to  Lee,  and  after- 
wards to  Northampton.  They  teach  two  hundred  pupils. 

Two  Christian  brothers  came  to  Chicopee  for  the  care  of  the  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty  boys  in  the  parish  schools  in  1881.  They  are  now  five  in 
number  aud  teach  near  to  three  hundred  boys.  The  Zaverian  Brothers  came 
to  Worcester  and  took  up  the  work  abandoned  by  the  Irish  Christian  Brothers 
in  1894.  They  have  three  hundred  boys  under  their  care.  The  Jesuits  at 
Holy  Cross,  the  La  Sallette  Fathers  at  Fitchburg,  the  Christian  Brothers  at 
Chicopee  and  the  Zaverians  at  Worcester  are  the  only  orders  of  religious  men 
in  our  diocese. 

The  public  school  has  always  been  the  boast  of  this  land,  but'the  public 
schools  to-day  are  very  different  from  the  public  school  of  twenty-five  years 
and  more  ago.  Then,  for  all  intents  and  purposes,  they  were  Protestant 
schools,  and  the  Catholic  in  them,  except  in  rare  instances,  was  made  to  feel 
that  he  was  an  alien,  and  should  be  continuously  thanking  the  people  whose 
goodness  of  heart  afforded  him  place  and  a teacher.  The  public  school  has 
improved  in  methods  and  in  the  moral  and  scientific  character  of  its  work.  It 
has  been  forced  to  this  by  the  parish  school.  The  parish  school  in  turn  has 
been  helped  by  the  rivalry  of  the  other,  and  its  teachers  are  kept  always  on 
the  alert  with  burnished  weapons  in  hand  and  eyes  open  against  any  surprise. 
The  abiding  warfare  is  bringing  out  the  best  in  each,  and  the  watchfulness 
is  proving  a blessing.  Those  races  have  in  them  most  improvableness  that 
have  had  the  hardy  virtues  developed  by  battle,  by  strivings  and  by  the  eter- 
nal vigilance,  which  is  always  the  price  of  life  and  liberty.  And  so  it  is  now. 
Every  man  and  woman  in  our  State  is  helped  in  spite  of  all  gainsayings  by 


18 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


the  parish  school.  We  keep  the  others  faced  front,  with  eyes  watching  every 
point ; and  while  this  is  so  there  is  small  danger  of  stagnation  in  the  school 
work  for  which  the  citizens  pay  so  dearly. 

But  the  fight  is  most  unfair.  We  are  the  poor,  and  yet  for  conscience 
sake  pay  twice  for  the  benefit  given  our  children.  Some  day  the  sense  of 
fairness,  which  sooner  or  later  will  show  itself  in  the  conduct  of  the  schools 
and  their  support,  will  set  us  a general  standard.  When  our  clildren  reach 
that  we  should  get  our  share  of  the  public  tax,  until  our  children  reach  it, 
we  were  madmen  to  ask. 

The  average  cost  per  year  for  a child  in  the  public  schools  of  Worcester 
Couuty  is  $20,041  ; in  Hampden,  $22,796;  in  Franklin,  $16.29;  Hampshire, 
$16,082  and  Berkshire,  $16,536.  There  are  in  the  parish  schools  of  Worcester 
County  7,963  children,  and  their  cost  to  the  county,  if  in  its  schools,  would 
be  $159,686.48;  Hampden  has  5,383,  and  their  cost  would  be  $122,710.86;  in 
Franklin  there  are  250  children,  and  their  cost  would  be  $4,072.50  ; Hamp- 
shire has  830,  which  would  equal  $13,348.06,  and  Berkshire  has  2,690,  which 
would  amount  to  $44,481.84.  In  the  parochial  schools  of  the  diocese  we  have 
17,146  children,  divided  thus;  the  yearly  burden  put  upon  us  for  conscience 
sake  therefore  is  $344, 199.74.  It  increases  yearly,  but  eveu  at  this  rate  in  ten 
years  would  count  up  to  $3,441,997.40. 

Here  is  something  for  fair  minded  men  to  consider  ; and  those  who 
believe  themselves  born  for  duties  of  State,  were  wise  to  begin  to  study  now 
how  best  to  lighten  the  burden.  There  is  no  sense  in  saying  to  the  Catholics, 
“Give  up  what  you  have  and  be  one  with  us.”  Conscience  neither  argues 
nor  compromises. 

The  greatest  institution  of  learning  in  our  diocese,  the  College  of  the 
Holy  Cross,  which  looms  up  over  Worcester  on  Packachoag  Hill,  had  founda- 
tion in  the  little  seminary  of  St.  James,  built  by  Father  Fitton  in  1840.  This 
small  two-story  building,  with  its  seventy  feet  of  frontage,  and  the  sixty  acres 
of  laud  adjoining,  was  presented  by  Father  Fitton,  in  1842,  to  Rt.  Rev.  Bene- 
dict Joseph  Fenwick,  second  bishop  of  Boston.  The  bishop  called  the  Fathers 
of  the  Society  of  Jesus  to  take  charge  of  it  in  September,  1843.  Rev.  Thomas 
F.  Mullady,  with  Brothers  John  Gavin,  George  Kuhn  and  John  Sullivan,  a 
postulant,  were  the  first  to  come,  September  28,  1843.  They  lived  for  a 
while  in  the  cottage,  known  afterwards  for  many  years  as  the  “ wash-house,” 
close  to  the  banks  of  the  Blackstone.  On  the  25th  of  the  following  October 
these  were  joined  by  the  Rev.  George  Fenwick,  brother  of  the  bishop.  The 
next  day  the  first  student  of  Holy  Cross  College,  a young  Irishman  named 
Edward  Scott,  was  received.  On  the  30th  of  the  same  October  the  commu- 
nity moved  to  the  newly-erected  seminary  of  Mt.  St.  James.  It  was  in  this 
seminary,  known  to  generations  of  students  as  the  “Old  House,”  that  the 
first  classes,  November  2,  1843,  were  organized,  and  the  exercises  of  college 
life  commenced.  This  building  served  for  college  work  until  January  13, 
1844,  when  the  new  college  building  was  completed.  The  corner-stone  of 
the  new  building  was  laid  June  21,  1843,  by  Bishop  Fenwick.  The  sermon 
for  the  occasion  was  preached  by  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  Constantine  Piese,  of  New 


HOLY  CROSS  COLLEGE, 
Worcester,  Mass. 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGEIELD. 


19 


York.  Twice  since  then  the  college  has  been  enlarged.  In  1895  its  capacity 
was  more  than  doubled  by  the  building,  at  a cost  of  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  of  the  new  west  wing.  This  made  ample  room  for  the  increasing 
work  of  the  college.  There  are  three  hundred  students  attending  the  classes, 
conducted  by  twenty-eight  professors.  This  college  is  the  first  Catholic  col- 
lege in  New  England,  and  the  pride  of  all  its  people.  The  bishop  of  our 
diocese,  our  Vicar-General  and  the  great  majority  of  our  priests  are  its  gradu- 
ates. The  same  thing  is  true  of  the  most  of  the  Catholics  in  the  liberal  pro- 
fessions throughout  the  diocese. 


CHAPTER  III. 

INSTITUTIONS  OF  HIGHER  LEARNING  AND  CHARITY. 


N the  1 8th  day  of  October  following  the  death  of  Bishop  O’Reilly,  Rev. 
Dr.  Thomas  D.  Beaven,  pastor  of  the  church  of  the  Holy  Rosary  at 
Holyoke,  was  consecrated  his  successor. 

Thomas  D.  Beaven  is  the  second  son  of  Thomas  Beaven  and 
Nancy  Kelley,  and  was  born  in  Springfield  (1851)  forty-eight  years  ago. 

Springfield  then  had  one  small  wooden  church  and  thirty-five  Catholic 
families.  If  God  that  day  had  lifted  the  veil  of  forty-eight  years  into  the 
future  from  the  eyes  of  that  Catholic  mother,  and  given  her  their  story  to  tell, 
how  she  would  have  amazed  and  thrilled  the  gathered  neighbors!  The  one 
little  church  will  have  grown  into  a magnificent  cathedral,  the  tens  of  Catho- 
lics will  be  counted  in  the  thousands  ; a great  brown-stone  church,  a near 
neighbor,  will  shelter  the  overflow  from  the  cathedral ; a third  church  for  the 
French-speaking  people,  will  lift  its  head  into  the  light;  and  ^ three  parish 
schools  with  more  than  fourteen  hundred  children,  under  care  of  fifty- 
seven  nuns,  will  teach  the  way  to  God  through  right  learning ; a shelter  for 
Magdalenes  will  bless  the  city ; a hospital,  the  best  equipped  and  most 
beloved  by  the  eitizens,  will  rise  like  the  spreading  wing  of  a health-bring- 
ing angel,  and  near  by  shall  be  the  broad  acres  and  generous  roof  of  a home 
and  industrial  school  for  orphans,  whose  walls  shall  be  put  in  place  by 
that  baby’s  own  hand,  when  God  shall  have  touched  his  brow  with 
chrism  and  flame,  and  shall  have  lifted  him  to  a bishop’s  throne  in  his 
native  city. 

The  day  of  Bishop  Beaven’ s consecration,  the  venerable  archbishop  of 
Boston  facetiously  remarked  the  “abundance  of  episcopal  timber”  to  be  found 
in  the  diocese  of  Springfield.  Very  complimentary,  too,  was  it  to  the  priests 
of  the  diocese  that  during  the  vacancy  in  the  see  a score  were  mentioned  as 
having  the  make-up  of  a good  bishop ; and  perhaps  any  of  the  score  would 
have  wisely  ruled  if  God  had  called. 

The  total  absence  of  any  unseemly  electioneering  was’  noted  to  the 
credit  of  the  diocese,  and  won  the  praise  of  the  whole  province.  Pre-eminent 
amongst  those  mentioned  for  the  office,  all  recognized  four  or  five,  any  one  of 
whom  would  have  made  an  excellent  bishop,  and  would,  when  consecrated, 
have  come  to  the  rule  of  a willing  priesthood ; but  from  the  four  or  five,  the 


20 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


priests  hailed  the  church’s  choice  as  theirs,  and,  in  great  rejoicing,  proclaimed 
their  loyalty. 

Bishop  Beaven  is  of  English  and  Irish  blood,  and  has  in  him  the  best 
qualities  of  both  races.  He  is  recognized  as  calm  and  strong ; shrewd,  with- 
out smallness ; a good  judge  of  character,  who  speaks  of  the  best  side  of  a 
man  oftenest ; deep,  and  in  the  concerns  of  high  office,  a Sphinx ; but,  in 
hours  of  recreation  with  his  priests,  of  abundant  spirit  and  of  good  camera- 
derie  enough  to  satisfy  the  social  soul  of  the  warmest  Celt  amongst  us.  No- 
where in  the  world,  or  at  any  time,  has  there  been  a closer  or  fonder  union 
between  a diocesan  and  his  priests,  based  upon  a mutual  respect  and  trust,  than 
exists  to-day  between  Bishop  Beaven  and  those  he  rules  in  the  diocese  of 
Springfield. 

The  bishop  is  a large  man,  six  feet  high,  broad  shouldered,  and  strong. 
Strength  is  the  especial  quality  that  comes  to  one’s  mind  while  observing 
him,  and  this  characteristic  of  strength  is  in  the  whole  man, — mind,  will, 
and  body;  and  the  very  calmness  of  his  manner  and  the  sweet  graciousness 
of  his  countenance  enhances  it.  He  is  a very  handsome  man,  with  regular 
features,  scant  brown-hair,  and  with  skin  soft  and  fresh  as  a maiden’s.  He  has 
a singular  benignity  of  expression  which  draws  people  to  him  wherever  he  goes. 
His  mouth  and  eyes  are  particularly  expressive  of  his  character.  The  former 
is  firm,  yet  mobile  and  compassionate.  His  eye  is  his  best  feature  ; it  is  large, 
full,  and  open,  much  like  the  eyes  we  see  in  the  face  of  the  young  Augus- 
tus,— that  kind  of  eye  with  which  a man  looks  sideways,  and  back,  as  well  as 
straight  ahead,  and  which  is  always  au  index  of  strength  of  character.  He 
looks  the  bishop.  An  old  rector  of  the  diocese,  his  neighbor  in  the  city 
where  he  then  was  pastor,  the  day  he  was  nominated  said:  “ He  is  a bishop 
just  because  God  made  him  for  one.” 

Bishop  Beaven  is  hard-working,  methodical,  and  business-like.  He  per- 
sonally knows  every  man  and  every  end  of  his  diocese,  and  he  is  personally 
interested  in  every  man  and  every  end.  Although  extremely  busy  since  the 
•day  of  his  consecration,  he  is  never  found  too  busy  to  be  of  service  to  a priest 
who  a.sks  for  advice  or  the  bishop’s  help.  He  is  at  the  call  of  his  priests  for 
almost  any  ceremony  wherein  they  feel  his  presence  may  quicken  God’s  work. 

After  becoming  bishop  one  of  his  earliest  works  was  the  maping  out  of 
all  the  diocesan  property,  the  scientific  examination  of  the  deeds,  and  their 
proper  registration.  Something  more  than  a year  ago,  by  understanding 
with  certain  insurance  companies,  he  ordered  the  diocesan  property  insured 
by  the  one  agency,  thereby  saving  for  the  charitable  purposes  of  the  diocese 
the  money  which  hitherto  went  into  the  pockets  of  the  agents.  Bishop  Bea- 
ven is  now  seven  years  a bishop.  Great  things  were  expected  of  him  at  his 
consecration,  and  greater  things,  than  were  then  dreamed  of,  have  taken  place. 
That  the  future  holds  high  honors  for  him  is  the  fond  belief  of  his  priests. 

Bishop  O’Reilly’s  regime  might  be  called  the  church-building  and  parish 
school-making  period.  Both  these  things  go  on  even  more  rapidly  in  the 
time  of  Bishop  Beaven,  for  the  opportunities  are  greater  ; yet  they  are  not  its 
characteristic  feature.  His  day  is  the  institutional  day;  for  houses  of  higher 


QCL  (/ZyLi^ 


J 


■ j . 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


21 


learning  have  sprung  up  under  his  guidance  like  St.  Joseph’s  Academy  at 
Pittsfield,  and  its  successor,  Our  Lady  of  the  Elms,  at  Chicopee,  whose  care 
is  in  charge  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  and  like  the  mother-house  and  normal 
training  school  for  the  same  sisters  at  Springfield  ; in  his  day,  too,  have  come 
the  splendid  new  convent  for  the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame  at  Worcester,  dedicated 
November  1 2, 1899,  and  the  great  purchase  made  this  year  by  Mgr.  Griffin,  of  the 
one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  “ at  the  lake”  in  the  same  city  for  a future  summer 
home  and  possible  normal  college  for  these  sisters  ; so  too,  the  opening  of  the 
three  first-class  and  completely  equipped  hospitals  at  Holyoke,  Springfield 
and  Worcester,  together  with  the  orphanage  for  boys  and  the  home  for  aged 
men  at  Brightside,  the  other  for  aged  women  at  Holyoke,  and  the  Mother- 
house  at  Brightside,  all  in  care  of  the  Sisters  of  Providence  ; and,  also,  the 
asylum  for  orphans  of  French  extraction,  under  the  direction  of  the  Gray 
Nuns  at  Worcester;  and  the  home  for  old  people,  looked  after  in  the  same 
city  by  the  Little  Franciscans ; and  with  these  the  Refuge  for  wayward  and 
fallen  women  at  Springfield,  controlled  by  the  Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd. 
Perhaps  the  bishop’s  especial  force  is  found  in  the  extraordinary  develop- 
ment of  every  manner  of  charitable  work,  and  the  encouragement  given  the 
religious  orders,  whose  life’s  labors  lie  along  this  line.  There  are  five  charity 
orders  in  this  diocese. 

The  Sisters  of  Mercy  in  charge  of  the  orphanage  at  St.  Paul’s  parish, 
Worcester,  is  the  oldest  religious  community  of  women  doing  work  in  our 
diocese.  Sister  Mary  Elizabeth  came  to  St.  Anne’s  at  the  call  of  Rev.  John 
J.  Power,  the  pastor,  in  1864,  and  opened  the  small  hospital  close  to  the 
church.  A great  deal  of  good  work  was  done  by  the  sisters  in  the  old  days. 
After  their  removal  to  St.  Paul’s  parish  and  the  building  of  the  orphanage, 
whose  care  they  now  have,  the  hospital  feature  was  eliminated  from  their 
work,  and  their  active  attention  given  to  the  orphans  and  the  schools  neces- 
sary for  the  proper  training  of  their  charges.  Three  sisters  came  in  1864; 
there  are  now  eighteen,  with  Sister  Mary  Gabrielle  as  superior.  They  divide 
the  care  of  the  orphans  in  the  diocese  with  the  Sisters  of  Providence,  at 
Holyoke,  and  the  Gray  Nuns  of  Worcester.  They  now  have  100  orphans  in 
charge,  and  care  for  them,  clothe  them  and  educate  them  until  able  to  earn 
for  themselves.  They  teach  six  grades.  These  sisters  visit  the  sick  of  the 
city  as  well  as  care  for  the  orphans,  and  for  many  years  in  Worcester  the 
habit  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  has  been  a familiar  sight  in  the  streets  as  they 
hurry  on  for  the  doing  of  God’s  work. 

The  order  of  the  Sisters  of  Providence  is  the  great  charity  order  of 
the  diocese.  They  have  care  of  the  three  splendid  hospitals  at  Holyoke, 
Springfield  and  Worcester.  They  have  care,  also,  of  the  orphanage  for 
girls.  Mount  St.  Vincent  at  Holyoke,  and  of  the  Institute  of  the  Holy 
Family  for  orphan  boys  and  old  men  at  Brightside,  Holyoke,  and  of  the 
Harkins’  Home  in  the  same  city,  wherein  aged  women  pass  in  peace  their 
last  days. 

Two  sisters  of  this  order.  Sisters  M.  J.  de  Chantal  and  Elizabeth,  came 
to  Holyoke  from  Kingston,  Canada,  on  a collecting  tour  in  June,  1873. 


22 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Father  Harkins  had  made  his  classical  studies  at  Kingston  and  knew  their 
good  work.  Bishop  O’Brien,  then  head  of  the  diocese  of  Kingston,  had 
been  his  professor,  and  anybody  coming  from  him  was  assured  of  the  warmest 
welcome.  He  received  them  kindly  and  aided  them  in  their  mission.  Tlie 
Holyoke  pastor  had  then  in  mind  the  building  of  a place  where  poor 

working  girls  might  have  home  in  times  of  sickness,  and  with  this  in 

view  he  made  application  through  Sisters  de  Chantal  and  Elizabeth  for 
a body  of  nuns  from  their  community  to  care  for  such  a home.  In  the 

September  following  their  visit,  he,  accompanied  by  Dr.  J.  J.  O’Connor, 

afterwards  Mayor  of  Holyoke,  went  to  Kingston  to  make  arrangements 
for  the  proposed  mission.  They  were  in  Kingston  on  September  4,  1873,  and 
on  September  28th  following.  Mother  Mary  John  and  Sister  Mar>'  Edward 
visited  Holyoke.  They  were  cordially  welcomed  by  Father  Harkins  and  Dr 
O’Connor,  and  having  thoroughly  examined  the  ground  of  their  proposed 
labors,  after  a few  days’  deliberation  decided  to  send  sisters.  These  were 
promised  for  November  4,  1873,  but  were  unable  to  leave  Canada  before 
November  6th.  Sister  Mary  Edward  came  as  superior,  and  with  Sisters 
Mary  Patrick,  Mary  of  the  Cross  and  Mary  Mount  Carmel,  arrived  at  Holyoke 
on  the  8th  following.  At  that  time  Father  Harkins  was  in  charge  of  the 
parish  of  South  Hadley,  and  thither  the  sisters  went  and  opened  in  the  parish 
house  a hospital  for  the  sick  and  a refuge  for  orphans. 

It  may  be  noted  just  here  that  when  the  sisters  came  Holyoke  had 
neither  alms-house  nor  hospital;  the  opening  of  the  little  place  in  Hadley 
was  the  first  work  in  this  line  of  public  charity  tindertaken  for  Holyoke  or 
its  neighborhood.  In  March,  1874,  the  four  sisters  were  joined  by  Sister 
Mary  Leonard  and  Sister  Mary  Berchmans.  In  May,  1874,  Sister  Mary 
Patrick  returned  to  Canada,  but  in  February  of  the  year  following  came 
again  with  Mother  Mary  John.  In  March,  1875,  Sister  Mary  of  the  Cross, 
one  of  the  original  four,  returned  to  Kingston.  The  Parsons  property  was 
bought  that  year,  and  the  sisters  returned  to  Holyoke  from  South  Hadley. 
The  hospital  then  was  closed  for  a year,  .though  meanwhile  the  orphans 
remained  in  Hadley.  When  Hadley  was  made  a parish,  in  1878,  they  were 
removed  to  Holyoke,  into  quarters  prepared  for  them  in  the  Catholic 
Institute. 

In  July,  1875,  the  sisters  accepted  the  care  of  the  boys’  schools,  then 
opened  by  Father  Haikins  in  St.  Jerome’s  parish.  This  is  the  first  parochial 
school  for  boys  taught  by  a religious  community  within  the  lines  of  our  dio- 
cese. Sisters  Mary,  of  Providence,  Mary  Berchmans  and  Mary  of  the  Presen- 
tation, and  three  novices  were  appointed  to  the  classes,  October  6,  1875. 
There  were  six  teachers  and  300  boys  at  the  opening.  Now  there  are 
twelve  sisters  and  500  pupils.  The  school  has  nine  grades.  The  community 
was  increased,  in  March,  1876,  by  Shster  Mary  Francis.  All  save  Mary 
Francis,  Mary  Berchmans  and  Mary  of  the  Cross  yet  labor  in  Holyoke.  That 
same  month  and  year  Sister  Mary  of  Providence  was  appointed  principal  of 
St.  Jerome’s  boys’  school;  and  from  that  time  forward  the  schools  showed  the 
result  of  this  wonderful  woman’s  energy  and  intelligence.  That  same  month 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


23 


and  year,  too,  came  Sister  Mary  Stanislaus,  and  on  September  6th  Sister  Gen- 
evieve ; February,  1877,  Sister  Gertrude,  and  August  23d  Sister  Agatha. 

The  community  was  incorporated  in  May,  1878,  and  in  their  own  name 
bought  from  Father  Harkins  the  Parsons’  property.  In  the  Parsons’  prop- 
erty, upon  which  a new  story  was  raised  that  year,  hospital  work  was  begun 
in  earnest,  and  this  answered  the  Catholic  needs  and  the  city  needs  until 
the  building  of  the  new  city  hospital  in  1893. 

At  this  time  the  orphan  children  in  charge  of  the  sisters  overcrowded  the 
quarters  prepared  for  them  in  the  Institute,  and  the  conditions  under  which 
they  were  forced  to  live  were  very  bad.  It  was  planned,  therefore,  to  get  some 
place  in  the  country  for  the  children  and  for  a hospital.  Dr.  O’Connor  was 
especially  urgent  in  pressing  the  building  of  a hospital,  and  with  this  in  view 
he  purchased  for  the  sisters  the  Ingleside  property.  It  was  intended  originally 
for  a hospital,  but  the  distance  from  the  city  was  so  great  and  the  needs  of  the 
children  cried  so  loudly,  that  everything  else  was  put  aside  for  the  moment, 
and  they  were  sent  there  as  soon  as  the  place  was  prepared.  Dr.  O’Connor, 
in  the  sisters’  name,  paid  to  Messrs.  Chandler  and  Holman  ten  thousand 
dollars  for  the  property.  The  original  price  was  twelve  thousand,  but  when 
Mr.  Holman  found  it  was  to  belong  to  the  sisters,  he  insisted  that  the  price 
be  made  ten  thousand.  The  others  interested  with  him  in  the  sale  would  still 
hangout  for  the  original  twelve  thousand;  “but,”  said  Mr.  Holman,  “the 
sisters  shall  have  it  for  ten,  or  I shall  refuse  to  sign  the  papers  for  any  sale 
whatever.”  Mr.  Holman  had  his  way.  Ingleside  became  the  great  diocesan 
orphanage. 

Sister  Mary  John  at  this  time  was  the  Mother-General  of  the  order.  She 
came  to  Holyoke  to  make  exatnination  of  the  proposed  new  work  ; she  and 
Sister  Mary  Providence  sketched  with  pencil  the  manner  of  building  required, 
and  Messrs.  Twoomey  and  Shea,  the  builders,  made  the  plans  from  the 
sisters’  sketch.  No  architect  had  to  do  with  the  building.  That  the  sisters 
knew  what  was  wanted  is  manifest  from  the  fact  that  were  they  to  build  to- 
morrow there  is  not  a line  of  the  building  that  would  be  changed.  The 
house  was  finished  and  dedicated  on  Washington’s  birthday,  1880,  by  Bishop 
O’Reilly.  After  the  blessing  the  Bishop  and  priests  were  entertained  by  the 
little  orphans.  Speeches  were  made  by  the  Bishop,  Father  Harkins,  Dr. 
O’Connor,  and  interested  priests.  Next  day  High  Mass  was  sung  in  the 
chapel  by  Father  Harkins,  at  which  the  choir  of  St.  Jerome’s  church  assisted. 

When  the  sisters  undertook  this  new  work  at  Ingleside  there  was  not  a 
dollar  in  the  community  treasury.  They  had  paid  for  the  House  of  Provi- 
dence at  Holyoke,  however,  and  were  therefore  out  of  debt.  IVIoney  was 
advanced  them  for  pressing  needs,  and  without  interest,  by  Rev.  Mother 
Mary  John,  who,  then  and  thereafter,  was  their  great  support.  She  sent  them 
provisions,  a horse,  harness,  carriage,  sleigh,  blankets  and  all  the  appurte- 
nances required  therefor.  Sister  Mary,  of  Providence,  was  then  made  the 
local  superior,  and  the  sisters  worked  night  and  day.  They  sewed,  made 
burial  robes,  flags,  banners  and  church  vestments ; and  to  make  use  of  the 
ilttle  farm  at  Ingleside  they  bought  four  or  five  cows  and  stabled  them  on  the 


24 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


place.  As  an  example  of  the  hardships  and  ceaseless  labors  borne  at  this 
period  by  the  sisters,  the  writer  may  mention  the  fact  that  he  knew  a young 
sister  of  great  mental  gifts,  then  immediately  concerned  in  the  control  of  the 
boys’  school,  who  mixed  the  feed  for  the  cattle  over  night,  and  in  the  morn- 
ing, summer  and  winter,  at  half-past  four  with  “old  Bridget,”  a good  woman 
who  came  from  Canada  to  work  for  the  sisters,  drove  to  lugleside,  fed  the 
cows,  assisted  in  the  milking,  and  was  back  at  the  House  of  Providence  at 
six,  and  after  her  share  of  community  work,  was  then  ready  to  teach  the 
highest  grade  in  the  schools  all  the  day  long. 

An  addition  was  made  to  Ingleside  in  1887.  The  design  for  this  was 
sketched  in  pencil  by  Sister  IMary  Providence,  and  plans  made,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  original  building,  by  Messrs.  Twoomey'and  Shea.  WheniSister  Mary 
Edward,  who  undertook  the  addition,  returned  to  Canada,  she  left  it  twenty- 
two  thousand  dollars  in  debt.  Before  the  new  addition  was  built  the 
original  debt  on  the  place  was  cleared.  It  was  cleared  by  the  ceaseless 
effort  of  the  sisters,  two  of  whom.  Sisters  Mary  Leonard  and  Mary  Teresa, 
went  into  the  far  west  and  up  and  down  through  the  wild  mining  districts, 
soliciting  help  from  the  miners.  Beginning  at  Denver  they  went  to  Lead- 
ville,  and  even  as  far  south  as  Texas.  Everywhere  they  were  received 
with  the  utmost  kindness  and  with  marks  of  deepest  respect  by  the  rough 
miners.  Food  and  shelter  were  always  given  them  and  the  tenderest  atten- 
tions showered  upon  them.  Even  the  railroads  gave  them  free  passes. 

They  collected  in  this  trip  six  thousand  dollars.  Sister  Teresa,  who  was 
of  surpassing  loveliness  of  person  and  disposition,  worn  by  this  trip,  was 
stricken  with  fever  in  the  following  summer,  1880,  and  died,  bitterly  regretted 
by  the  whole  community.  Her  companion  told  a story  which  shows  the 
pure  and  gentle  character  of  this  Sister  Teresa.  Once  in  making  a long 
journey  over  the  mountains  in  the  mining  districts  a stone  worked  itself  into 
the  sister’s  shoe.  So  bashful  was  she  that  she  hesitated  to  stop  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  guide  and  remove  it,  and  thus  walked  on  over  the  mountains  all 
day  until  the  stone  had  worn  its  way  into  her  foot ; not  until  the  night  time 
did  she  remove  the  shoe.  Never  a word  was  spoken  during  the  day  by  the 
gentle  soul  to  make  known  the  excruciating  pain  she  must  have  suffered. 
Sisters  Mary,  of  the  Visitation,  and  Mary  Catherine  went  through  Texas  and 
New  Mexico  afterward  and  collected  $2,000  to  help  pay  for  the  addition. 

In  1880  the  sisters  had  a great  fair  by  which  they  made  seven  thousand 
dollars.  They  had  been  given  by  the  Water  Power  Company,  as  donation 
for  the  fair,  a plot  of  land  on  Maple  street,  upon  which  the  sisters  sold  tickets 
to  the  value  of  two  thousand  dollars.  When  the  tickets  were  drawn  the  lot 
fell  to  the  name  of  Sister  Mary  Edward.  She  sold  it  for  two  thousand  more. 

From  1890  Bishop  O’Reilly  was  very  anxious  to  make  the  sisters  a dio- 
cesan order.  He  felt  that  the  round-about  way  of  reaching  the  headquarters 
in  Canada  was  unbusiness  like,  and  not  at  all  suitable  to  the  direct  American 
method.  He  asked  that  the  Holyoke  community  be  made  diocesan.  The 
majority  of  the  sisters  working  here  were  in  favor  of  the  bishop’s  request. 
Some  in  Canada,  naturally,  were  opposed.  For  two  years  the  cause  of  the 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


25 


separation  was  pushed  by  Bishop  O’Reilly.  He  appointed  Rev.  Doctor  Beaven, 
then  pastor  of  Holyoke,  to  represent  him  at  the  papal  court.  Some  feeling 
was  awakened  between  the  American  and  Canadian  authorities.  The  very 
day  that  Bishop  O’Reilly  lay  dying,  letters  came  from  the  cardinal -prefect  of 
the  propaganda,  granting  his  request.  When  the  papers  came  the  bishop  was 
unconscious,  and  could  not,  therefore,  sign  the  documents  as  required  by  the 
Roman  authorities,  but  his  successor.  Bishop  Beaven,  who  knew  the  case 
thoroughly,  on  his  accession  to  the  see,  soon  brought  the  whole  affair  to  a 
successful  completion.  The  bishop  was  informed  of  the  papal  decision  on 
December  26th  following  his  consecration,  and  announced  it  at  a dinner  given 
on  his  patronal  feast  at  Ingleside  shortly  thereafter. 

Bishop  Beaven,  the  very  day  he  was  consecrated,  through  the  agency  of 
Mr.  McQuaid,  of  Holyoke,  bought  the  beautiful  Brightside  property,  whereon 
now  stands  the  Mother-house  of  the  order  in  the  diocese,  the  orphanage  for 
boys  and  the  home  for  aged  men.  The  bishop  handed  over  the  property  to 
the  sisters.  Bishop  Beaven  has  the  freest  hand  for  church  and  charitable 
work,  but  he  always  leaves  others  something  to  do.  He  does  not  think  it 
wise  to  take  away  motive  for  hard  work.  The  property  cost  forty-one  thou- 
sand dollars.  The  bishop,  when  handing  the  deeds  to  the  sisters,  said  : 
“ Twenty-one  thousand  dollars  are  paid  on  this.  It  is  now  yours — do  you 
think  you  can  meet  the  other  twenty  thousand?  ” The  poor  sisters,  who  had 
been  in  great  need  of  more  room,  were  rejoiced  beyond  power  of  expression. 
They  with  full  hearts  thanked  the  bishop,  and  began  at  once  to  make  the 
place  what  it  is  to-day.  This  was  in  October,  1892.  They  came  to  live  in 
the  Mother-house  the  day  after  Christmas  that  very  year.  Twoomey  and  Shea 
began  repairs  upon  the  great  buildings  at  once,  and  on  June  21st,  the  year 
following,  the  sisters  and  children  came  into  joyful  possession.  The  improve- 
ments upon  the  place  cost  twenty  thousand  dollars.  The  bishop  paid  this 
from  his  own  purse.  The  first  year  the  sisters  were  in  charge  they  were 
obliged  to  borrow  three  thousand  dollars  for  living  expenses,  but  God  blessed 
their  noble  effort,  and  to-day  the  whole  property,  with  all  its  improvements, 
including  the  home  for  aged  men,  has  but  a debt  of  twenty-three  thousand 
dollars. 

The  sisters  had  worked  so  wisely  in  the  little  hospital  at  Holyoke,  that 
it  soon  was  too  small  to  receive  all  the  sick  people  who  asked  for  place  in 
its  wards.  In  fact  it  had  been  too  small  for  twelve  years.  A new  and  larger 
hospital  was  needed.  But  nothing  could  be  done.  The  sisters  were  bur- 
dened down  with  debt ; they  had  neither  money  or  land.  Just  then  their  old 
friend,  Father  Harkins,  came  again,  and  his  hand  was  open.  He  presented 
the  sisters  in  1893  with  the  Doyle  property  adjoining  the  little  hospital,  and 
this  gave  them  space  to  build.  They  engaged  architect  C.  J.  Bateman,  of 
Boston,  who  made  them  plans  of  a splendid  building.  Ground  was  broken 
in  August  that  same  year,  and  the  building  was  completed  in  the  following 
year.  The  first  patient  was  admitted  July  26th,  1894.  The  hospital  was 
dedicated  October  4th,  1894,  by  Bishop  Beaven,  who  that  evening  made  the 
house  a gift  of  one  thousand  dollars  for  the  purchase  of  a set  of  surgical  in 


26 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


struments.  At  a public  meeting  of  the  citizens,  over  which  the  Bishop  pre- 
sided, he  promised  five  thousand  dollars  in  annual  payments  of  one  thousand. 
Led  by  the  Bishop’s  example,  help  began  to  pour  in  upon  the  sisters,  and 
to-day  their  hospital  is  confessedly  a model,  both  in  its  equipment  aud  in  the 
manner  of  its  control. 

On  Easter  Monday  the  sisters  went  to  Worcester,  and  after  consultation 
with  IMonsignor  Thomas  Griffin  and  the  Bishop,  agreed  to  open  a hospital  there. 
They  began  work  in  the  old  Washburn  mansion,  which  some  years  before  had 
been  purchased  by  Monsignor  Griffin,  and  had  been  used  as  a monastery  by  the 
Brothers  teaching  in  his  schools.  They  soon  after  built,  for  hospital  purpo- 
ses, a frame  building.  This  was  finished  and  ready  for  occupancy  in  1894. 
It  was  dedicated  in  October,  1895.  This  first  hospital  in  Worcester  cost 
twenty-two  thousand  dollars.  Here,  as  in  Holyoke,  the  capacity  of  the  house 
was  soon  unable  to  meet  the  demands,  and  it  was  determined  to  erect  a larger 
and  better  appointed  building,  and  to  leave  the  frame  hospital  for  old  people 
and  incurables.  This  hospital,  built  in  brick  and  stone,  was  ready  for  dedica- 
tion November  8,  1899.  The  local  prints  of  the  day,  speaking  of  the  occa- 
sion, said  : “ The  people  interested  in  the  work  of  the  hospital,  including  the 
Sisters  of  Providence,  and  the  physicians  and  surgeons,  are  delighted  with  the 
new  building  and  its  splendid,  appointments  which  are  excelled  by  few  hos- 
pitals in  the  country.”  The  location  of  the  hospital  is  admirable.  It  stands 
on  the  western  slope  of  Vernon  Hill,  and  commands  a splendid  view  of  the 
city  and  the  surrounding  country  to  the  north  and  west.  Wachusett  may  be 
seen  with  its  head  in  the  cloud  from  the  windows  of  nearly  all  the  wards. 
The  doctors,  the  day  of  the  dedication,  had  much  to  say  of  the  health- 
fuliiess  and  beauty  of  the  position ; and  Dr.  John  T.  Duggan,  as  presiding 
officer  of  the  evening’s  exercises,  spoke  for  the  physicians  these  beautiful 
words  : “What  shall  we  say  to  our  nurses?  These  noble  women  who  have 
left  happy  homes  and  kind  friends  to  labor  here  among  the  suffering  ones. 
When  the  mantle  of  night  is  resting  on  the  valley  below,  these  representa- 
tives of  this  order  are  acting  sentinels,  and,  with  night  lamp,  going  noise- 
lessly through  the  wards,  relieving  the  sufferings  of  their  fellows,  smoothing 
the  pillow  of  this  patient,  and  administering  words  of  comfort  to  that  sorely- 
stricken  one,  until  there  is  a newer  and  truer  light  in  the  words,  ‘ Blessed  are 
the  merciful.’  ” Catholics  and  Protestants  attended  the  dedication,  and 
showed  the  best  of  feeling.  After  the  Bishop,  the  Mayor  of  the  city,  Rufus 
B.  Dodge,  spoke  in  very  kindly  terms,  as  did  Dr.  Thomas  H.  Gage,  Chairman 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Memorial  Hospital,  and  Charles  A.  Peabody, 
Superintendent  of  the  City  Hospital.  There  are  twenty  Sisters  in  care  of 
this  institution.  Its  cost  was  ninety  thousand  dollars. 

On  February  ii,  1896,  the  Bishop  purchased  for  charitable  purposes,  at 
the  head  of  Carew  street,  in  Springfield,  the  Allis  Estate.  This  was  remod- 
eled into  a hospital,  and  the  Sisters  of  Providence  called  to  the  charge.  The 
first  price  for  the  splendid  estate  was  twenty -six  thousand  dollars.  As  at 
Holyoke  and  at  Worcester,  this  soon  was  inadequate  to  the  call,  and  it  had  to 
be  enlarged.  “ From  the  very  moment  of  its  inception,”  said  the  Bishop  at 


BOSTON  COLLEGE  LlbhHKT 
CHESTNUT  HILL,  MASS. 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGEIELD.  27 

the  dedication  of  the  enlarged  new  hospital,  October  i8th,  three  years  later, 
“the  Mercy  Hospital  has  been  a source  of  encouragement  to  its  managers. 
The  Sisters  of  Providence,  with  a confidence  that  is  wholly  womanly,  piled 
up  debt  upon  debt  until  they  saw  the  first  house  thoroughly  and  fully  estab- 
lished. At  the  end  of  the  first  six  months  we  all  felt  that  we  had  the  thread 
of  success  within  our  grasp,  and  the  following  year  fulfilled  abundantly  all 
our  calm,  victorious  confidence.  At  the  end  of  that  time  the  managers  felt 
that  they  stood  on  firm  ground,  and  rid  of  every  encumbrance  the  property 
passed  over  to  the  Mercy  Hospital  Corporation.” 

The  Bishop  as  early  as  1897  had  been  planning  the  enlargement  of  the 
hospital  and  the  putting  of  it  into  the  hands  of  a corporation.  In  the  spring 
of  1898  plans  were  made  by  Messrs.  Richmond  and  Donahue,  of  Springfield, 
for  this  work.  The  first  brick  was  laid  on  the  19th  day  of  July,  1898,  and 
the  corner-stone  followed  on  the  first  Sunday  of  October,  1898.  Bishop 
Beaven  laid  the  corner-stone  and  Very  Rev.  Dr.  Garrigan,  vice-rector  of  the 
Catholic  University  of  Washington,  preached  the  sermon.  The  first  hospital 
in  the  Allis  house  was  opened  for  patients  on  July  19th,  1898.  The  receipts  and 
expenditures  from  that  time,  as  read  by  the  Bishop  at  the  dedication,  were  as 
follows  : “The  receipts  of  1897  were  $9,315-55,  and  expenditures  for  the  same 
year  $7,051.08,  leaving  a balance  to  the  good  of  $2,264.47  > receipts  for 
1898  were  $31,956.82,  the  expenditures,  $27,384.49,  leaving  a balance  again 
on  the  right  side  of  $4,572.33.”  The  reason  for  the  increase  in  receipts  and 
expenditures  in  1898  was  owing  to  the  Cuban  war.  Hundreds  of  poor  sol- 
diers were  brought  back  barely  alive.  All  the  hospitals  were  crowded.  No 
hospital  in  the  whole  land  was  more  popular  than  the  House  of  Mercy,  and 
scores  of  soldiers  sought  its  wards.  Even  the  porches  and  piazzas  were 
boarded  up,  and  beds  put  in  them.  So  popular  did  the  sisters  grow  that 
sometimes  the  sick  soldiers  refused  to  enter  any  hospital  unless  space  was 
found  for  them  in  the  House  of  Mercy.  During  the  present  year  (1899),  the 
receipts  of  the  hospital  have  enabled  the  authorities  to  pay  all  ordinary  ex- 
penditures, and  to  pass  over  to  the  treasurer  of  the  building  fund  about  two 
thousand  dollars.  The  night  of  the  dedication  the  mother-superior,  Mary  of 
Providence,  was  handed  a check  for  eight  thousand  dollars,  which  very  mate- 
rially lightened  the  burden  her  shoulders  were  carrying.  This  hospital  has 
twenty-one  sisters  of  Providence.  All  of  the  order  not  engaged  in  the  hos- 
pitals or  the  school  work,  live  and  labor  at  the  Mother-house  at  Brightside. 
The  community  holds  in  its  own  name  the  Mother-house  and  orphanages 
Mount  St.  Vincent  and  Brightside,  and  the  hospital  at  Holyoke  ; the  other 
property  managed  by  them  is  owned  by  corporations.  The  Bishop  believed 
that  the  sisters  might  show  the  world  an  example  of  extraordinary  unselfish- 
ness if  they  agreed  to  put  the  hospitals  raised  at  Worcester  and  Springfield, 
principally  by  their  own  endeavors,  into  the  hands  of  corporations  made  up 
of  priests  and  laymen  of  each  city.  This  was  in  1898.  With  the  single- 
ness of  heart  that  has  always  marked  the  sisters,  they  agreed  to  the  Bishop’s 
proposal,  and  handed  over  to  the  corporation  at  Springfield  this  hospital,  and 
the  twenty-two  thousand  dollars  which  had  been  earned  for  it  by  themselves. 


28 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


The  sisters  now  get  board  and  lodging  in  these  two  hospitals  in  which  they 
work,  and  the  small  pittance  of  fifty  dollars  a year  from  which  must  be  paid 
all  incidental  expenses,  like  books,  clothing,  dentistry,  and  things  of  such  a 
character. 

There  have  been  four  very  remarkable  women  amongst  the  religious 
sisters  of  this  diocese,  and  each  has  been  at  the  head  of  her  house  in  its  for- 
mative period.  Sister  Elizabeth  of  the  Order  of  Mercy,  Sister  Albanie  of 
Notre  Dame,  Mother  Cecilia  of  St.  Joseph’s  Order,  and  Mother  Mary  of  Provi- 
dence, each  in  turn  has  left  an  abiding  memory  where  she  labored. 

The  last  is  a marvellous  woman,  small  of  frame  and  delicate  appearing, 
low  voiced,  with  an  almost  hesitating  manner,  yet  with  the  mind  of  a man  fit 
to  direct  armies.  In  a crowd  of  nuns  she  appears  as  wishing  to  seem  the  least ; 
but  once  you  catch  her  thought  so  lucidly  expressed,  and  feel  the  force  of  her 
blue-gray  eyes,  you  know  you  stand  in  the  presence  of  a superior  woman. 
She  was  marked  for  great  things  from  the  day  she  was  a novice.  When  but 
a girl  she  was  made  principal  of  the  boys’  school  in  St.  Jerome’s  parish,  and 
was  then  as  remarkable  a teacher  and  director,  as  she  since  has  proved  herself 
a leader  in  the  world  of  charitable  endeavor. 

Nearly  the  whole  of  her  religious  life  has  been  passed  v/ith  school  boys, 
not  always  too  gentle,  or  with  men  of  affairs,  like  builders,  bankers,  lawyers, 
and  priests,  not  too  gentle  either,  and  in  the  face  of  all  this,  no  one  has 
memory  for  one  moment  when  Sister  Mary  of  Providence  forgot  her  quiet 
womanliness,  or  when  she  permitted  the  gentleness  of  the  nun’s  character  to 
be  merged  in  the  rude  manishness  of  the  business  woman. 

She  is  as  sweetly  feminine  now  as  on  the  day  she  took  the  white  veil. 
The  sister  is  the  possessor  of  great  literary  talents,  and  in  her  young  days 
showed  this  in  the  production  of  original  dramas,  poems,  dialogues,  and 
speeches,  prepared  for  the  entertaiments  given  by  the  children  under  her 
charge.  Had  she  given  herself  to  this  work,  there  is  small  doubt  but  she 
would  have  reached  fame.  She  is  absolutely  unselfish,  and  of  warmest  heart. 
She  has  had  hundreds  of  thousands  of  money  in  her  hands,  and  she  is  cease- 
less in  seeking  the  consolation  of  her  sisters  and  of  the  people,  for  whom  they 
care  ; but  never  a penny  was  spent  on  herslf,  or  a moment’s  thought  given  to 
her  personal  comfort.  God  has  abundantly  blessed  her  work ; it  has  pros- 
pered and  grown  almost  miraculously  ; and  we  are  sure  that  when  the  future 
historian  writes  the  names  of  the  women  who  have  bfonght  glory  to  the 
American  Church,  the  name  of  Mother  Mary  of  Providence  will  be  found  in 
the  upper  lights. 

There  is  one  house  in  charge  of  the  Gray  Nuns  in  the  diocese  of  Spring- 
field.  This  is  at  Worcester.  These  sisters  first  came  to  Worcester  and  estab- 
lished themselves  at  the  corner  of  Southgate  and  Grand  streets,  January  2ist, 
1891.  Two  years  later  they  moved  to  a farm  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres, 
which  they  purchased  for  fifteen  thousand  dollars  on  Granite  street.  They 
found  upon  it  a house  and  barn.  The  house  they  changed  into  a chapel,  and 
forthwith  the  present  orphanage,  at  a cost  of  thirty-one  thousand  dollars,  was 
built.  It  was  finished  January  31st,  1893,  and  was  blessed  by  Bishop  Beaven, 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGEIELD. 


29 


May  2 1st,  that  same  year.  Sister  Piche  was  the  original  superior,  and  yet 
rules.  Three  sisters  came  at  the  beginning,  now  there  are  twelve.  They 
have  charge  of  two  hundred  children.  They  assume  the  care  only  of  children 
above  three  years  of  age,  though  in  cases  of  rare  destitution,  they  sometimes 
take  younger  ones  in.  Their  boys,  when  they  have  reached  the  age  of  twelve, 
are  returned  to  their  friends,  or,  lacking  these,  are  sent  to  the  House  of  the 
Angel  Guardian  in  Boston  to  learn  a trade,  or  if  studious  and  showing  apti- 
tude, to  the  Oblate  Fathers  in  Ottawa,  Canada.  The  girls  are  taught,  besides 
their  ordinary  lessons,  sewing,  cooking,  and  the  every-day  household  duties. 
They  are  kept  until  claimed  by  relatives,  or  when  old  enough  to  work,  are 
placed  in  respectable  families.  All  the  while  a supervision  is  held  over  them, 
and  the  sisters  retain  the  right  to  call  them  back  in  every  case  if  circumstances 
seem  to  so  warrant.  Though  other  cities  in  the  Commonwealth,  such  as  Bos- 
ton, Lawrence,  and  Salem,  have  helped  like  institutions,  the  Gray  Nuns  have 
never  received  any  aid  from  the  city  of  Worcester.  In  fact,  contrary  to  the 
general  custom  in  regard  to  religious  institutions,  they  have  been  obliged  to 
pay  their  taxes,  water  rents,  and  all  the  ordinary  expenses  which  may  be  looked 
for  in  great  institutions.  Father  A.  Desnoyers  from  St.  Hyacinthe,  Canada,  a 
priest  in  delicate  health,  has  been  appointed  by  Bishop  Beaven  as  chaplain  of 
the  institution,  and  celebrates  Mass  for  the  sisters  every  day  when  able. 

The  order  of  the  Little  Franciscan  Sisters  of  Mary  was  founded  at  Man- 
chaug  in  our  own  diocese,  August  i8th,  1889.  The  sisters  took  their  first 
vows  at  St.  Paul’s  Abbey,  County  Charlevoix,  P.Q.,  August  12th,  1892.  Eight 
sisters  took  vows  then,  and  ten  took  perpetual  vows,  July  loth,  1896.  Sister 
Mary  Joseph  was  their  first  superior.  The  convent  on  Bleeker  street  has 
eight  sisters  with  Sister  Mary  Dominique  as  superior.  They  have  the  carecof 
aged  people,  each  of  whom  must  be  sixty  years  of  age  or  over.  The  sisters 
assume  their  support  until  the  end  of  life.  The  only  means  Jhey  have  for 
raising  money  is  in  what  may  be  gathered  in  a house-to-house  canvass  ; two  sis- 
ters go  out  on  this  duty  every  day.  The  house  and  land  were  bought  for  the 
sisters  on  Bleeker  street  for  fifty-five  hundred  dollars,  October  20th,  1891. 
An  addition  was  built  to  the  house  in  1898  and  1899  at  an  added  cost  of  five 
thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety-three  dollars.  This  building  was  blessed, 
March  12th,  1899,  by  Rev.  Jules  Graton,  the  pastor  of  the  parish.  In  addi- 
tion to  this  property  the  sisters  control  another  plot  of  ground  having  five 
hundred  feet  frontage.  These  sisters  were  leading  a kind  of  commiinity  life 
for  some  time  before  they  received  the  bishop’s  approbation.  This  came  to 
them  December  7th,  1897,  and  in  keeping  with  his  wishes  they  went  to 
Canada  to  prepare  themselves  properly  for  the  religious  life.  They  have  in 
their  charge  thirty-two  aged  people. 

A community  of  five  sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd  were  called  to  the 
diocese  by  the  bishop  October  31,  1893.  They  came  from  Boston,  but  the 
mother-house  is  in  the  province  of  New  York.  First  they  lived  in  two  small 
cottages  on  Eastern  avenue,  but  land  was  bought  for  them  in  1896  and  arrange- 
ments undertaken  for  the  erection  of  buildings  suitable  to  their  work.  The 
first  brick  of  the  new  building' was  laid  by  Sister  Lilian,  the  superior,  a.ssisted 


30 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


by  Sister  Priscilla  and  Rev.  J.  B.  Fagan,  who  blessed  the  ground,  September 
2,  1897 ; and  October  following  the  corner-stone  was  laid  by  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop 
Beaven.  On  this  occasion  Rev.  B.  S.  Conaty  preached  the  sermon.  These 
sisters  have  the  care  of  wayward  girls  and  fallen  women,  whom  they  try  to 
save  from  prison  and  its  evil  consequences.  They  make  religion  take  the 
place  of  chains.  There  are  fifteen  sisters  now  in  the  community,  and  eighty- 
seven  girls  under  their  care.  In  the  six  years  of  their  foundation  they  have 
had  three  hundred  girls  and  women,  under  their  guidance.  These  are  made  to 
acquire  industrious  and  useful  habits,  whereby  they  may  hope  afterwards  to 
support  themselves.  The  refuge  has  forty  sewing  machines  run  by  electricity, 
and  the  inmates  earn  by  these  a share  of  their  support.  The  Good  Shepherd’s 
Aid  Society,  a body  of  young  Catholic  women,  help  the  sisters  somewhat  in 
their  charitable  work,  but  outside  of  their  assistance  the  sisters  work  on  alone. 

The  Academy  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Elms,  at  Chicopee,  is  the  latest  insti- 
tution originated  by  the  Bishop.  The  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  for  two  years 
controlled  the  Academy  of  St.  Joseph,  at  Pittsfield,  and  so  great  a success  did 
they  make  of  their  opportunities  that  the  whole  city  recognized  their  worth, 
and  the  Catholic  people  asked  for  parish  schools  to  be  taught  by  thein.  This 
was  done  this  year  (1899),  and  now  the  parish  schools  of  Pittsfield  have  four- 
teen Sisters  teaching  five  hundred  and  fifty-six  children.  In  the  fall  of  1898, 
Rev.  John  J.  McCoy,  of  Chicopee,  learned  that  the  splendid  property  of  Erastus 
Stebbins,  in  his  city,  was  for  sale.  The  Bishop  was  informed,  and  after  some 
preliminaries,  the  Bishop  bade  Father  McCoy  buy  it.  This  he  did,  through 
Patrick  Rourke,  who  all  along  has  been  the  agent  for  the  priest,  in  February, 
and  in  the  March  following  the  Bishop  began  in  the  house  the  changes  neces- 
sary for  its  new  uses.  All  was  completed  in  the  summer.  The  house  was 
blessed  by  the  Bishop  September  4th,  and  the  first  Mass  said  by  Father  McCoy 
in  the  chapel  the  same  day.  The  Bishop  asked  Father  McCoy  to  name  the 
academy,  and  he  called  it  “ Our  Lady  of  the  Elms,”  because  the  Indian  word 
“ Chicopee”  means  the  “ River  of  Elms,”  and  because  the  front  of  the  acad- 
emy grounds  was  shaded  by  a magnificent  growth  of  these  stately  trees. 
There  are  twenty  young  women  studying  within  the  academy  walls,  taught 
by  seven  Sisters,  under  the  direction  of  Sister  Valerian,  as  Superior. 

How  God  has  blessed  our  world  in  its  nuns  ! How  dreary  would  Catholic 
life  be  if  their  heroisms  were  suddenly  taken  out  of  it  ! The  materialism  of 
our  age  sometimes  seems  as  if  about  to  engulf  all  things  high  and  sacred. 
The  great  discoveries  in  the  physical  sciences  of  our  day  ; the  ceaseless  breath- 
ings of  the  mighty  engines  of  our  industries  ; the  passing,  swift  almost  as  the 
lightning,  of  the  myriad  ships  of  commerce,  binding,  as  with  iron,  shore  and 
shore ; the  fever  of  hope  for  riches  ; the  insatiate  hunger  for  pleasures  of 
sense,  and  the  mad  rivalries  of  nations,  all  kill  peace,  and  keep  men  turned 
from  the  cool  heights  where  is  lived  the  sublime  life  of  the  soul  with  God. 
War,  too,  and  the  rumors  of  war,  civilization  in  blood  forced  on  peoples  by 
the  bullet  and  bayonet,  and  not  by  the  meekness  of  Christ’s  apostles  ; wild 
liberty,  which  means  the  freedom  to  talk  false  philosophy  from  the  schools, 
the  press,  the  novel,  the  platform  ; to  teach  error  shamelessly ; to  laugh  at 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


31 


moral  restraint ; to  spread  corruption  and  vice,  which  eats  out  the  hearts  of  the 
young  ; these,  too,  are  pouring  down  on  us  in  torrents,  and  the  outlook  is 
saddening. 

Ah  ! but  God  is  in  his  world.  Wherever  on  our  crowded  streets,  amidst 
the  whirl,  the  dust,  the  turbulence  and  the  heartless  rush  of  our  every-day 
life,  one  catches  the  gleam  of  the  white  band  that  binds  the  brows  of  a nun, 
and  the  snowy  cape  upon  her  shoulders,  he  sees  again  the  spotless  dove  which 
Noah  sent  out  over  the  lashing  floods,  and  which  bore  him  back  again  the 
olive  bough,  emblem  of  peace  on  earth  and  the  certain  sign  of  the  ceasing  of 
the  deluge.  Our  nuns  will  always  bring  hope  to  the  church,  and  keep  alive 
in  the  children  the  promises  of  the  Mighty  Father  who  guides  the  ark. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CONCLUSION. 


UR  church  has  worked  a revolution  in  this  land.  It  were  hardly  too 
bold  to  say  that  it  has  Christianized  it.  When  the  vanguard  of  the 
Irish  Catholic  settlers  came  into  the  heart  of  the  Commonwealth, 
and  into  the  Connecticut  valley,  there  was  no  Christmas,  nor  Easter, 
nor  Good  Friday.  The  fanners  drove  their  herds  afield  on  the  Easter  as  on 
any  Sunday,  or  went  to  the  forests  for  the  felling  of  trees  at  Christmas,  or  on 
Good  Friday  made  their  ox  wains  groan  under  the  great  timbers  going  to  the 
mill  ; and  all  the  wheels  of  the  factories  whirled  as  rapidly  on  these  sacred 
days  as  on  the  day  before  and  the  day  following.  Now  New  England  knows 
Christmas  with  all  its  sweet  symbolism,  and  the  children  of  Puritan  descent 
watch  for  it,  and  listen  for  the  story  of  the  Christ  Child  and  His  Mother  as 
eagerly  as  do  those  who  bear  names  like  ours.  The  new  life  of  the  Easter 
time  throbs  joyously  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  worship  in  Congregational, 
Baptist  or  Unitarian  meeting-houses — though  it  may  be  in  lesser  measure — 
as  it  does  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  gather  about  the  Catholic  altars.  Light 
has  come  into  the  face  of  gloomy  Congregationalism.  It  has  seen  its  error 
in  mistaking  the  Hebraism  of  the  Old  Testament,  with  its  awful  threaten- 
ings,  for  the  religion  of  Christ.  The  Puritan  God,  the  Stern  Punisher,  has 
given  place  to  the  gentle  Jesus  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  bleeding  for  very  love 
of  the  souls  He  is  for  ever  callino'. 

o 


Knowledge  has  come,  too  ; a statue  is  not  now  looked  upon  as  an  idol, 
but  a remembrancer  of  God  or  the  saints,  whose  lives  were,  like  God’s,  passed 
in  doing  good  ; a priest  is  not  now  a man  to  be  dreaded  and  tortured,  and 
driven  away,  but  one  whose  influence  for  good  is  sought  and  welcomed  in 
every  community,  and  in  that  community  which  is  most  intelligent,  most 
welcomed  ; the  confessional  is  no  longer  a place  for  dark  deeds,  the  getting 
of  gold,  or  the  putting  of  iron  chains  on  the  wills  of  people ; but  a place  of 
balm,  of  comfort,  of  unburdenings,  and  of  new  and  better  beginnings ; the 
parish  school  is  not  now  a place  where  people  are  kept  in  enforced  ignorance, 
and  where  duty  to  church,  to  the  neglect  of  state,  is  taught ; but  a place 
where  love  of  God  first  and  neighbor  next,  in  season  and  out  of  season,  is 


32 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


awakened  in  youthful  hearts,  and  knowledge  needed  for  the  right  exercise  of 
citizen  duties  and  citizen  privileges  is  thoroughly  and  conscientiously 
engendered  every  day. 

One-half  of  all  the  children  born  in  Massachusetts  for  the  last  twenty- 
five  years  were  baptized  in  the  Catholic  church.  The  same,  the  Bishop  of 
Hartford  says,  is  true  of  Connecticut.  To  claim  that  all  these  remained  stead- 
fast in  the  church  were  uncandid,  and  would  be  contrary  to  fact.  We  have 
had  great  losses.  In  the  country  districts,  where  the  priest  was  seldom  seen, 
the  young  people  grew  up  like  their  neighbors,  and  never  learning  the  teach- 
ings of  the  faith,  drifted  aimlessly  into  Protestantism ; many  others  into 
indifference ; a great  many  were  lost  in  marriage ; some  through  misunder- 
standings on  their  own  part  or  their  parents’  with  priests  ; others,  again, 
through  hope  of  social  elevation,  thinking  because  the  Protestants  as  a body 
were  rich,  to  be  one  was  to  receive  uplifting.  These  causes  do  not  obtain  to 
any  extent  now,  save  that  of  marriage;  and  even  that,  because  of  the  grow- 
ing intelligence  of  our  people,  is  losing  its  power.  We  do  not  anticipate 
extensive  loss  in  the  future,  and  the  type  of  Catholicity,  our  schools  and  hos- 
pitals and  priests  and  nuns  are  inculcating,  is  more  intelligent  and  just  as 
steadfast  as  that  which  saved  our  fathers. 

To-day  Bishop  Beaven  benignly  rules  upwards  of  two  hundred  and  forty- 
two  thousand  people,  who  are  served  by  two  hundred  and  forty  priests.  These 
people  in  thrift,  education  and  sobriety  need  not  fear  comparison  with  any 
other  in  the  State.  The  general  educational  movement  among  the  Catholics, 
as  evinced  in  the  spread  of  schools,  in  literary,  alumnae  and  reading  circles, 
has  strong  life.  The  Catholic  Benevolent  Societies  count  up  membership  in 
the  thousands.  The  charities,  notably  the  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  have  every 
day  a growing  energy  and  a widening  reach,  while  the  diocesan  temperance 
agitation  has  found  men  and  numbers  of  such  individuality  and  strength  as 
to  make  the  Springfield  Union  third  in  numbers,  yet  equal  to  the  first  in 
influence  among  the  Catholic  temperance  unions  of  America. 

A large  proportion  of  the  priests  are  total  abstainers.  All  the  priests  are 
friendly  to  sensible  methods  of  temperance  work.  In  no  other  part  of  Amer- 
ica has  the  success  of  the  cadet  and  military  feature  of  the  work  been  equaled. 

From  first  to  last,  within  the  last  seventeen  years,  perhaps  six  thousand 
boys  and  youth  have  received  in  the  temperance  halls,  gymnasiums  and  drill 
sheds,  the  rudiments  of  a military  training.  On  our  great  field  days  the  sight 
of  marching  thousands,  armed,  uniformed  and  in  knowledge  of  the  soldier’s 
duties,  equal  in  many  ways  to  the  State  militia,  caused  great  concern  in  the 
breasts  of  some  timid  patriots.  Therefore,  seven  years  ago,  a law  was  sprung 
by  the  State  Legislature,  making  the  carrying  of  arms  by  such  bodies  unlaw- 
ful. We  prophesy  that  when  the  State  needs  defenders  she  will  find  them 
willing,  trained  and  true  in  the  sober  manhood  of  those  she  then  disarmed. 

Our  people  are  mainly  Irish,  or  of  Irish  blood.  The  French-Canadians 
make  up  the  next  largest  body.  To  the  Irish  they  are  as  one  to  three.  We 
have  bodies  of  Germans,  too,  and  in  late  years  growing  communities  of 
Slavs,  Italians  and  Syrians. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


33 


All  the  Irish  and  their  sons  are  citizens,  or  becoming  such  as  rapidly  as 
the  law  allows.  Time  was  when  the  Canadians  came  here  to  work  only  to 
return  to  Canada  when  the  day  for  earning  was  over  ; not  so  is  it  now ; they, 
too, — and  mainly  through  the  influence  of  their  priests — are  following  the 
example  of  their  Milesian  brethren,  making  here  their  permanent  homes  and 
eagerly  taking  upon  themselves  the  burden  and  the  glory  of  citizenship.  So, 
too,  are  the  others,  so  that  in  a short  time  we  shall  have  ceased  to  hear  the 
words  Irish  parish  or  French  parish,  or  Polish  or  Italian  parish.  All  will 
be  of  one  tongue.  All  will  be  Catholic  and  American,  and  most  American 
when  most  Catholic. 

In  common  with  priests  the  country  over,  our  priests  are  sometimes 
spoken  of  as  having  strong  hands  in  politics.  Any  priest  who  tinkers  with 
party  politics  is  a rara  avis  in  tcrris.,  and  one  who  would  talk  politics  from 
his  pulpit  would  be  thought  by  his  fellows  to  have  taken  leave  of  his  senses. 

A body  of  busier  men  is  not  on  earth  than  our  average  Catholic  pastors. 
We  are  in  and  of  the  building  age.  The  making  of  plans,  therefore,  collect- 
ing, expenditure  of  moneys,  superintendence  of  work,  belong  to  us,  together 
with  the  watchful  care  of  our  people — the  teaching,  catechizing,  baptizing, 
marrying  and  burying.  What  wonder,  then,  that  we  have  few  orators  and 
fewer  writers.  Some  people  might  say  that  we  have  not  in  the  Springfield 
diocese  one,  in  the  high  sense.  The  writer  knows,  however,  a score  who 
could  win  distinction  in  the  pulpit  or  in  the  world  of  letters,  if  time  and 
quiet — always  so  necessary  for  the  perfecting  of  natural  gifts  and  for  high 
mental  effort — were  granted  them.  We  are  now  gathering  for  the  material 
church  the  timbers,  the  stone,  the  cement.  Under  God’s  direction  we  raise 
it  high  and  build  it  strong.  The  next  generation  of  priests  will  be  the 
scholars,  and  their  mission  to  fill  God’s  temple  with  the  radiant  glory  of 
Catholic  wisdom. 

3 


S4 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


PARISH  HISTORIES. 


BERKSHIRE  COUNTY. 


ST.  FRANCIS’  CHURCH, 

Adams  (North). 

’O  far  as  certain  knowledge  proves,  North  Adams  heard  Mass  for  the 
first  time  close  to  sixty  years  ago.  Then  Rev.  Jeremiah  O’ Cal- 
laghan, coming  thither  from  Burlington,  Vt.,  said  it  in  the  house 
of  Michael  Ryan,  who  lived  just  back  of  the  spot  whereon  to-day 
the  tomb  rests  at  the  north  end  of  the  city  cemetery. 

There  were  twelve  (12)  people  present,  beside  the  priest;  and,  of  that 
twelve,  one,  Bridget  Murphy,  daughter  of  Michael  Ryan,  yet  lives  to  tell 
the  story  of  the  natal  day.  She  has  seen  the  church  grow  from  the  Apostolic 
number,  twelve,  to  more  than  ten  thousand  in  North  Adams  (1898);  and  if 
we  let  her  count  the  souls  now  in  what  was  the  original  parish  lines,  and 
thus  include  South  Adams  and  Williamstown,  the  old  eyes  do  not  see  visions, 
nor  the  trembling  lips  say  falsely,  when  they  report  the  hosts  going  up  to  the 
temple  of  God  as  increased,  in  the  three  score  years,  close  to  sixteen  hundred 
fold;  and  the  little  room  of  the  laborer’s  house,  back  on  the  hillside  near  the 
graves,  as  transformed  into  six  magnificent  churches  of  brick  and  stone ; into 
three  convents,  occupied  by  religious  women ; three  parochial  schools,  with 
troops  of  children  ; and  into  six  splendid  presbyteries  in  the  midst  of  spacious 
grounds,  making  homes  for  twelve  busy  priests,  who,  strangely  enough  in 
themselves,  find  repeated  to-day  the  number  of  souls  which  tradition  says 
made  the  beginning. 

After  a year’s  care  of  the  people,  to  whom  he  came  at  intervals.  Father 
O’ Callaghan  was  succeeded  by  Rev,  John  Benedict  Daly,  of  Bennington, 
Vermont.  He  was  able  to  serve  the  people  more  regularly  than  Father 
O’ Callaghan,  and  continued  so  doing  till  the  coming  of  Rev.  Bernard  O’ Cav- 
anaugh, then  curate  at  Cabotville,  and  who  in  1849  was  made  pastor  of  Pitts- 
field. He  came  to  the  people  once  each  month.  In  1852  Rev.  Patrick  Cud- 
dihy  succeeded  him  in  the  pastorate  of  Pittsfield,  and  in  turn  assumed  the 
charge  of  North  Adams. 

The  new  pastor,  with  strong  hand,  began  the  proper  shaping  of  the 
parish.  In  1856  he  purchased  from  the  Methodists  their  old  church  then 
standing  on  Center  street,  and  made  it  the  parish  church.  When  Father 
Cuddihy  was  called  to  Milford,  1857,  Rev.  Edward  Purcell,  who  had  been 
his  assistant  at  Pittsfield  from  1853,  became  his  successor  in  the  pastorate 
there,  and  in  the  missionary  care  of  North  Adams.  In  1863  the  Catholics 
had  so  grown  in  numbers  and  in  means  as  to  warrant  the  presence  of  a resi- 
dent pastor,  and  Rev.  Charles  Lynch,  who  was  assistant  to  Father  Purcell 
at  Pittsfield,  and  known  to  the  people,  was  given  the  charge. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


35 


Father  Lynch  was  peculiarly  well  fitted  for  the  place.  He  knew  the 
people  and  they  knew  him.  North  Adams  at  the  time  of  his  appointment 
gave  great  promise  of  civic  and  religious  opportunity,  for  the  right  mastering 
of  which  was  demanded  a strong  man.  Father  Charles  Lynch  was  an  excep- 
tionally strong  man — strong  in  body,  in  mind  and  in  will.  He  was  far-seeing, 
too,  quick  to  observe  the  trend  of  business  life,  as  well  as  religious  life,  and 
always  able  to  make  his  hand  a controlling  force  in  both.  He  was  lively  of 
wit  and  keen  of  tongue ; he  was  capable  of  scholarly  conception,  and  was 
recognized  by  his  fellows  as  an  eloquent  and  forceful  man.  Of  unquestioned 
courage,  and  of  unusual  physical  power,  he  made  both  serve  to  good  ends, 
and  particularly  in  that  historic  period  when  the  rough  bands  of  the  tunnel- 
workers  brought  a vigorous  and  sometimes  lawless  element  into  the  town 
life.  Both  feared  and  loved,  to  his  death  he  held  the  mastery  of  his  people. 

But  a short  time  was  he  in  North  Adams  before  he  had  ownership  of 
the  site  whereon  is  reared  the  splendid  church  of  St.  Francis,  and  had  put 
himself  to  the  plans  of  the  building.  In  1867  the  corner-stone  was  laid,  the 
superstructure  was  up  in  1869,  and  on  the  eighteenth  day  of  July,  the  same 
year,  the  people  witnessed  the  dedication  of  their  temple  to  the  service  of 
God.  The  old  church  was  rented  to  the  Canadians  that  year,  but  in  1881 
was  sold  for  $3,800. 

The  same  year,  1881,  he  bought  the  property  on  the  corner  of  Eagle  and 
Union  streets,  known  as  the  Cady  property,  remodeled  the  house  that  sat 
thereon  into  a presbytery,  then  moved  the  original  parsonage  to  its  present 
site,  where  it  now  makes  a pleasant  home  for  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  who 
teach  the  parish  school.  A little  respite,  and  we  find  him  again  in  1882  with 
the  old  unquenchable  zeal  busy  with  the  erection  of  the  present  school  of 
St.  Joseph.  He  never  saw  it  completed. 

God  called  him  in  May  (28),  1883,  and  in  July  of  the  same  year  Rev. 
Charles  E.  Burke,  of  Springfield,  took  up  the  parish  burdens  where  Father 
Lynch  had  laid  them  down. 

Father  Burke’s  first  work  was  the  completion  of  the  parish  school.  To 
this  end  he  was  obliged  to  take  out  the  original  foundations,  which,  through 
some  one’s  fault,  were  improperly  in,  replace  them  with  sound  and  substan- 
tial new  work,  strengthen  the  superstructure  with  iron  pillars,  and  have  all 
ready  and  right  against  the  opening  of  studies  in  September,  1886.  He  suc- 
ceeded. When  the  school  door  swung  out  in  September,  two  hundred  girls 
stood  there  asking  the  care  of  the  four  sweet-faced  Sisters  who  stood  on  the 
threshold  welcoming  them.  To-day  in  St.  Joseph’s  school  there  are  six  hun- 
dred and  fifty  pupils,  boys  and  girls,  and  seventeen  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  teach- 
ing them.  The  course  of  studies  calls  for  nine  grades  before  the  High  School 
is  reached,  which  again  asks  for  four  years  more  of  serious  work  before  the 
honor  of  graduation  may  be  won.  The  Catholic  people  of  North  Adams  are 
very  proud  of  their  schools,  and  justly  rejoiced  at  the  increasing  reputation 
for  depth  and  thoroughness  of  training  which  the  years  are  bringing  them. 

Since  assuming  the  rectorship  of  the  parish,  which  is  a “ permanent  ” 
one.  Father  Burke  has  kept  on  in  the  energetic  way  of  his  predecessor. 


36 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Beside  paying  oflf  a large  debt,  137,500,  completing  the  school  of  St.  Joseph, 
repairing  and  frescoing  the  church,  beautifying  it  with  stained-glass  windows, 
and  putting  the  grounds  about  in  order,  he  has  added  two  considerable  prop- 
erties to  the  parish  possessions.  In  April,  1889,  he  bought  the  Boland  prop- 
erty on  Union  street,  and  on  May  25th,  1894,  had  deeded  to  the  bishop 
the  princely  “ Arnold  Homestead,”  which  to-day  may  be  classed,  in  beauty, 
value  and  convenience,  as  equal  to  the  best  parochial  residence  in  the  diocese. 

The  parish  has  church,  school,  presbytery,  convent,  three  houses  and  a 
stable.  Every  thing  is  in  good  condition.  The  church  is  the  first  conse- 
crated by  Bishop  O’Reilly,  October  4,  1887.  It  is  of  brick  and  sandstone, 
reared  in  Gothic  style  ; inside  it  measures  62  feet  in  width  by  125  in  length, 
and  in  highest  point  from  floor  to  ceiling  has  61  feet.  It  is  beautifully  fres- 
coed and  ornamented  within,  while  without  into  the  sky  lifts  its  head,  a mag- 
nificent tower,  where  swings  a chime  of  bells,  whose  open  throats  on  festal 
days  fling  over  city  and  resounding  hills  their  mellow  praises  to  the  people’s 
God. 

Since  1862,  when  the  baptismal  registry  begins,  to  April  27,  1898,  there 
were  4,960  baptisms  in  the  parish  of  St.  Francis.  The  marriage  records 
earlier  than  1869  cannot  now  be  found,  but  from  that  date  to  1898  the  books 
.show  903  marriages.  There  is  record  of  25  conversions  from  Protestantism, 
17  of  which  have  occurred  between  1890  and  1898.  The  parish  numbered 
(1898)  4,700  souls. 

The  first  curate  sent  to  assist  in  North  Adams  was  Rev.  James  Hennessy, 
who  came  in  1871,  and  remained  one  year.  He  was  followed  by  Rev.  David 
IMcGrath,  now  of  Holyoke,  who  came  September  5,  1873,  and  was  replaced 
June  29,  1875,  by  Rev.  James  Donohoe.  Father  Donohoe  remained  till  Sep- 
tember II,  1877  ; Rev.  Terrence  Smyth  came  September  15,  1877,  remained 
until  1881  ; Rev.  James  Coyle,  of  Providence,  came  January  19,  1878;  Rev. 
T.  F.  Murphy,  after  Father  Coyle,  served  till  December,  1885  ; Rev.  James 
McAvoy  (Boston),  from  January,  1884,  to  the  Spring,  1885  ; Rev.  James  Nor- 
ris, from  May,  1885,  to  August,  1889;  Rev.  E.  S.  Fitzgerald,  from  January, 
1886,  to  March,  1887;  Rev.  James  Cruse,  from  August,  1889,  to  September, 
1894;  Rev.  George  Flynn,  from  December,  1893  ; Rev.  John  Ivers,  from  Oc- 
tober, 1894,  to  April,  1896;  Rev.  James  Donnelly,  from  April,  1896. 

Fathers  Flynn  and  Donnelly  yet  assist  Father  Burke  (April,  1898),  and 
no  part  of  the  priest’s  work  has  failure  at  their  hands.  Father  Burke  has 
proved  a capable  head  of  the  parish  from  the  first.  He  is  gentle  but  firm. 
He  has  taste  and  learning.  In  his  younger  days  he  was  known  as  a graceful 
preacher  of  signal  merit,  and  even  now,  when  occasion  calls,  will  show  the 
old-time  power  and  charm.  He  was  born  at  Worcester,  Mass.,  November  4, 
1845,  passed  through  the  city  schools  to  Holy  Cross  College,  where  he  won 
his  degree  in  1869,  then  studied  theology  at  Troy,  N.  Y.,  was  ordained  there. 
May  25,  1872,  and  was  at  once  assigned  for  duty  to  Very  Rev.  Patrick  Healy, 
V.  G.,  at  Chicopee.  He  was  at  Chicopee  but  a short  time  when  Bishop 
O’Reilly  called  him  to  the  Cathedral  at  Springfield.  When  Father  James 
McDermott  was  made  pastor  of  the  Sacred  Heart  parish  in  Springfield,  1874, 


Rev.  C.  BVUDOVIN. 


Rev.  C.  H.  JEANNOTTE,’. 


Rev.  CHARLE.S  E.  BURKE,  P.R. 


Rev.  D.  C.  MORAN  (Deceased). 


Rev.  O.  L.  TRIG  ANNE. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


37 


Father  Burke  succeeded  him  as  rector  of  the  Cathedral  parish.  He  served 
here  till  his  appointment  as  pastor  of  North  Adams. 

The  Catholic  people  of  the  parish  stand  as  high  in  public  regard  as  any 
other  people  in  the  community.  They  have  had  and  have  a fair  share  in  the 
civic  offices,  and  have  been  fortunate  as  a rule  in  the  men  whom  they  have 
chosen  to  represent  them.  They  are  in  the  professions  and  in  business  life, 
and  amongst  their  neighbors  many  of  them  are  marked  as  an  especially  sober 
and  law-abiding  element.  Some  have  means ; and,  all  in  all,  the  Catholic 
people  of  North  Adams,  as  a body,  have  the  sure  respect  of  the  community, 
and  this  grows  as  education  advances,  and  as  opportunity  for  betterment 
comes  to  the  people  more  and  more  with  the  years. 

NOTRE  DAME  DU  SACRE  CCEUR, 

North  Adams. 

IN  1871  Rev.  Charles  Crevier  now  (1899)  pastor  of  the  church  of  the  Pre- 
cious Blood,  Holyoke,  Mass.,  first  gathered  the  French-Canadian  people 
into  parish  form.  Before  this  they  worshiped  with  the  other  Catholic 
people  of  the  town.  Father  Crevier  was  pastor  till  1887,  had  the 
care  of  the  Canadians  in  Adams,  Williamstown  and  the  vicinity,  till  1882; 
at  which  time  Father  Charbonneau  became  the  pastor  of  the  Canadians  of 
Adams,  and  so  limited  Father  Crevier’ s work. 

Rev.  Charles  Crevier  raised  the  church  of  Notre  Dame,  finished  the  base- 
ment, and  had  it  in  excellent  condition  for  his  successor,  Rev.  Louis  Leduc, 
who  was  made  the  pastor  of  North  Adams  in  1886.  Father  Leduc  completed 
the  temple,  and  when  he  died,  six  years  ago  in  May,  1893,  left  a beautiful 
parish  church,  and  a still  more  beautiful  example  of  a saintly  life  as  heritage 
to  his  people. 

In  1880  the  parish  had  as  curate  Rev.  Anthony  Lamy,  and  from  October, 
1881,  to  February,  1882,  Rev.  J.  B.  Charbonneau  ; then  came  Revs.  C.  Beau- 
doin, September,  1884;  Joseph  Marchaud,  August,  1885  ; L-  Leduc,  January, 
1886;  J.  M.  Rioux,  October,  1886,  who  remained  to  August,  1897;  J.  T. 
Bouret,  September,  1888;  L.  O.  Triganne,  January,  1889,  who  served  till  May, 
1890;  J.  E.  Marcoux,  July,  1890,  who  was  with  the  people  till  August,  1893  ; 
L.  D.  Grenier,  May,  1895,  and  J.  O.  Comtois,  in  January,  1898. 

Since  the  foundation  of  the  parish  in  1871,  when  about  150  families  or 
750  souls  made  up  the  count,  to  January  i,  1899,  when  something  more  than 
5,000  Canadians  and  700  Italians  are  within  the  parish  limits,  there  have  been 
4, 380  baptisms  and  908  marriages. 

The  parish  has  a church,  a home  for  the  priests,  a school  and  a convent. 
When  the  school  opened,  in  1889,  there  were  375  boys  and  girls  to  answer 
the  pastor’s  call ; now  the  elementary  and  grammar  grades,  eight  in  all,  under 
the  care  of  the  good  Sisters  of  St.  Anne,  have  in  them  and  doing  serious 
work,  820  children.  There  are  650  citizen  voters  in  this  parish ; their  influ- 
ence, therefore,  is  very  considerable.  They  are  law-abiding,  patriotic  and 
attentive  to  religious  duty.  North  Adams  has  been  blessed  in  its  Catholic 


38 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


life, — blessed  in  the  marvelous  growth  in  numbers,  wealth,  influence  and  in 
the  good-will  of  the  community.  It  has  been  doubly  blessed  in  a particularly 
good  and  capable  priesthood.  From  the  first  day  to  this  the  men  at  the  head 
of  the  parish  affairs  have  been  of  excellent  repute,  and  have  had  noticeable 
success  ill  parish  endeavor.  Father  Charles  H.  Jeannotte,  the  present  pastor, 
stands  worthily  in  the  line  of  superior  men,  and  rules  wisely  the  willing 
hearts  and  ready  hands  of  his  people. 

He  was  born  at  Beloeil,  P.  Q.,  on  the  12th  of  November,  1854.  He  made 
his  classical  and  theological  studies  at  the  Petit  Seminaire  de  Sainte-Marie  de 
Monnoir  in  the  diocese  of  St.  Hyacinthe.  On  the  26th  day  of  August,  1877, 
he  was  ordained  to  the  priesthood.  He  was  teacher  of  classics  and  prefect  of 
discipline  in  this  same  seminary  for  eight  years.  He  did  pastoral  work  in  the 
diocese  of  St.  Hyacinthe  for  two  years,  and  then  came  into  the  diocese  of 
Springfield  as  an  assistant  to  Father  Dufresne  of  Holyoke.  He  was  made 
pastor  of  the  church  of  Notre  Dame  011  the  7th  of  October,  1894. 

It  was  a day  of  promise  when  the  strong-armed,  clean-hearted  Irish  came 
into  the  hills ; the  gay  and  mannerly  French,  with  their  love  of  joyousness, 
ceremony  and  the  amenities  of  life  have  added  to  this  promise ; and  now  the 
dark-eyed  Italian,  with  his  dreams  of  art,  his  beauty-loving  soul,  his  keen 
mind  and  thrift,  brings  an  element,  which,  in  the  golden  fusion  of  the  several 
races  that  the  years  will  surely  know,  will  help  to  make  a new  race,  entirely 
American, — a better  race,  than  any  of  the  older  ones,  and  entirely  Catholic ; 
a race  that  will  know  the  highest  life  and  beauty  and  vigor, — up  in  the  high- 
lands of  our  State,  where  the  sun  is  brighter  and  the  air  purer,  and  the  water 
clearer,  and  the  skies  nearer  than  elsewhere  within  her  borders. 

CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS, 

Adams  (South). 

y^/ERY  likely  Catholic  people  were  in  Adams  long  before  1840,  for  men- 
Y4)  tion  is  made  of  a considerable  body  of  Irish  people  in  North  Adams 
^ as  early  as  1825.  Our  people  are  restless;  therefore  we  have  reason 
for  thinking  that  some  came  here ; and  though  it  does  not  follow  that  such 
were  Catholic,  the  inference  is  not  unfounded  that  when  they  are  mentioned^ 
especially  as  “ Irish,”  it  is  because  they  are  Catholic  ; for  the  others  soon  lose 
the  color  that  keeps  them  marked  from  their  neighbors.  Be  this  as  it  may, 
however,  the  first  public  Catholic  service  is  said  to  have  been  held  when 
Father  Bernard  O’Cavanagh  said  Mass  in  the  home  of  Michael  Madden  in 
1845.  Off  and  on  during  the  days  before  the  coming  of  Father  Cuddihy  to 
Pittsfield,  he  said  Mass  when  possible,  sometimes  in  a house  which  stood  on 
the  mill  grounds,  and  later  on  in  a small  hall  on  Main  street.  During  Father 
Cuddihy’s  pastorate,  and  that  of  his  successor.  Father  Purcell,  Mass  was  said 
here  as  regularly  as  the  large  mission  permitted  until  the  appointment  of 
Father  Charles  Lynch  as  pastor  of  North  Adams  in  January,  1863.  Father 
Lynch  was  able  thereafter  to  give  Adams  closer  attention,  and  soon  made  this 
manife.st  in  the  purchase  of  the  old  Congregational  meeting-house,  which  he 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


39 


removed  to  its  present  site  on  Park  street,  and  remodeled  into  a Catholic 
church.  It  was  dedicated  to  the  Lord’s  service  under  the  patronage  of  St. 
Charles  Borromeo,  and  served  the  people  till  May  9,  1897,  when  the  new  and 
splendid  church  of  St.  Thomas  was  dedicated  to  God  by  Bishop  Thomas 
Beaven. 

September  the  12th,  1875,  Adams  was  made  a parish,  and  Rev.  E.  P. 
McCort  came  as  the  first  resident  pastor.  Some  one  has  said  that  the  Catho- 
lic priests  beyond  any  other  class  of  men  seem  gifted  with  right  choice  of 
sites  for  churches  and  parochial  properties.  We  all  love  the  hills.  Perhaps 
something  of  the  old  prophets  down  from  the  days  of  Hebrew  glories  has 
come  to  us  with  the  sacredness  of  our  ceremonial,  and  we  are  drawn  again  as 
they  were  drawn  to  the  heights  for  sacrifice  and  for  speech  with  God. 

Father  McCort,  true  to  this  tribal  trait,  chose  a hill  side,  and  then  at  the 
head  of  its  sunny  eastern  slope,  built  his  home.  It  is  to-day  an  ideal  home 
for  the  priest,  and  will  so  remain,  for  houses  will  never  be  raised  on  either 
side  of  it,  nor  can  the  rush  and  run  of  a public  street  ever  disturb  the  peace- 
fulness of  its  avenues.  It  is  vine-clad  and  rose-embowered,  just  in  a sunny 
opening  beyond  stately  trees,  and  looking  out  past  the  graceful  spire  and 
finials  of  the  fine  new  church  of  St.  Thomas,  on  to  the  homes  of  the  towns- 
people below,  and  over  the  great  chimneys,  whose  hot  breath  is  ever  telling 
how  ceaselessly  day  in  and  day  out  labors  the  heart  of  the  factories.  Sixteen 
thousand  dollars  was  the  cost  of  this  land  and  home.  Father  McCort  died 
in  January,  1880,  regretted  deeply  by  his  people  and  his  neighbors,  and  in 
the  February  following,  Rev.  Denis  C.  Moran,  the  present  pastor,  came  from 
Winchendon  to  Adams. 

Adams  has  known  the  services  of  six  curates  : Father  Daniel  J.  Sullivan, 
who  labored  here  with  Father  McCort ; Rev.  Edward  F.  Martin,  who  assisted 
Father  Moran  from  his  coming  to  1880,  the  time  of  his  own  appointment  to 
Athol ; Rev.  M.  A.  O’Sullivan,  about  eighteen  months;  Rev.  James  Maher, 
close  to  nine  years;  and  Rev.  Michael  J.  Coyne,  who  came  in  April,  1892, 
and  Rev.  J.  F.  McGrath,  in  May,  1896,  both  of  whom  are  still  in  the  people’s 
service.  A count  made  in  1898  says  there  are  1038  souls  in  the  parish  of  St. 
Thomas,  Adams,  with  200  more  in  the  mission,  Cheshire. 

From  1875  to  1897  there  are  1516  baptisms  in  the  parish  registers  and 
308  marriages.  There  were  some  converts  from  Protestantism,  but  no  special 
record  of  the  cases  was  made.  When  Father  Moran  came  to  Adams  the 
parish  was  in  debt  $15,000  ; he  paid  the  last  penny  of  this  in  December,  1885. 

For  some  years  the  old  church  has  not  answered  the  needs  of  the  people, 
and  Father  Moran  has  been  busy  with  the  thought  of  a new  one.  He  put  in 
place  the  first  stone  of  the  new  church  in  November,  1895,  had  the  corner- 
stone blessed  by  Bishop  Beaven  May  17th,  1896.  The  church,  with  the  base- 
ment beautified  and  ready  for  worship,  was  dedicated  on  May  9th  of  the 
following  year  by  Bishop  Beaven. 

The  new  church,  in  modified  Gothic  style  of  architecture,  was  planned 
and  cared  for  in  process  of  erection  by  architect  James  Murphy,  of  Providence. 


40 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


It  is  135  feet  long  and  61  feet  wide  ; from  sidewalk  to  ridge  it  is  75  feet  high, 
while  to  top  of  the  cross  on  the  main  tower  it  measures  exactly  130  feet.  The 
building  of  this  church  has  been  the  crown  of  Father  Moran’s  work  in  Adams. 

He  has  been  a priest  since  November  5th,  1865  ; it  appears  then  that 
thirty  years  thereafter,  to  a day,  in  spite  of  the  hardships,  the  fasts,  the  jour- 
neys, the  cold  and  wet  of  the  missionary  life,  he  begins  with  strong  heart  a 
work  that  most  men  outside  the  priesthood  would  say  was  the  labor  of  a life. 
He  begins  and  carries  it  through,  and  is  now  ready  for  more.  He  was  born 
in  Ireland,  town  of  Laffaney,  parish  of  Carrigeen,  County  Kilkenny,  July 
I ith,  1841.  He  studied  as  a boy  under  the  Christian  Brothers,  then  for  two 
and  a half  years  at  St.  John’s  College,  Waterford  ; coming  to  this  country  he 
entered  Holy  Cross  Collegeat  Worcester,  in  1859,  and  was  graduated  therefrom 
in  1862.  At  St.  Sulpice,  in  Paris,  he  made  two  years  of  theology,  and  com- 
pleted his  scholastic  course  at  Carlow,  Ireland,  where  he  was  ordained  for  the 
diocese  of  Boston,  November  5th,  1865.  In  April,  1866,  he  was  curate  to  his 
uncle.  Rev.  William  Moran,  pastor  of  Ware,  and,  five  months  later,  was 
assigned  to  Howell,  to  the  church  of  St.  Patrick.  In  May,  1868,  he  was 
given  his  first  pastorate  at  Uxbridge,  Mass.,  where  he  remained  till  the  bishop 
of  the  new  diocese  of  Springfield  asked  him  to  organize  the  parish  of  Win- 
chendon,  which  labor  he  began  the  last  day  of  July,  1871. 

In  many  ways  Father  Denis  Moran  is  a remarkable  man.  He  could 
have  achieved  greatness  in  several  lines,  for  God  has  gifted  him  in  mind  and 
body  beyond  most  of  his  fellows.  To  the  writer  he  has  always  appeared,  as 
intended  by  nature,  for  the  calling  of  arms ; not  that  he  is  wanting  in  the 
gentler  essentials  of  the  priesthood,  but  because  the  tall,  athletic  figpire,  the 
broad  chest,  the  length  of  sinewy  limb,  the  muscular  neck,  and  the  leveled 
brows  bespeak  him,  above  all  things  else,  the  higher  type  of  fighting  man. 
Some  service  lost  a great  cavalryman  when  Denis  Moran  put  on  the  cas- 
sock. In  the  priesthood  one  who  knows  him  would  look  to  see  him  greatest 
where  hardships  were  many  and  conditions  untoward,  and  where  sacrifice  and 
courage  were  needed.  With  all  this  a kindlier  soul  is  not  amongst  us,  as  many 
in  need  who  have  found  him  a friend  indeed  can  testify.  He  is  of  the 

“ Mighty  race 
Taller  than  Roman  spears.” 

and,  as  has  been  said  of  another  priest,  he  needs  every  inch  he  has  to  incase 
his  heart. 

“ST.  MARY’S  OF  THE  ASSUMPTION”  (MISSION  OF  ST. 
THOMAS,  ADAMS). 

Cheshire. 

§OHN  WARNER  BARBER  in  his  “Historical  Collections,”  published 
in  1839,  speaks  of  Cheshire  as  “incorporated  by  its  present  name 
March  14th,  1793.  The  settlement  of  the  town  commenced  in  1767. 

. . . The  inhabitants  from  the  beginning  have  been  generally  of  the 
Baptist  denomination.  . . . The  centre  of  the  town  is  a rich  and  fertile  val- 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


41 


ley.  To  the  east  and  west  of  this  the  ground  gradually  rises  into  hills  and 
mountains.  The  township  is  well  adapted  to  grazing,  to  which  the  attention 
of  the  inhabitants  is  principally  given.  Large  dairies  are  kept  and  Cheshire 
cheeses  are  widely  and  deservedly  celebrated.” 

There  is  no  record  of  a priest’s  coming  to  Cheshire  before  1847.  Then 
some  priest,  whose  name  cannot  now  be  learned,  and  who  is  said  to  have 
come  from  the  west,  and  probably  from  the  diocese  of  Cleveland,  read 
Mass  for  the  Catholic  people  in  the  home  of  Stephen  Cuddihy.  Father  Ber- 
nard O’Cavanagh,  though  known  to  have  been  in  most  of  the  Berkshire 
towns,  is  said  to  have  never  been  here.  Father  Cuddihy  while  pastor  of 
Pittsfield  did  come  now  and  then,  and  first  gathered  the  people  for  Mass  in 
Mechanics’  Hall,  afterwards  in  a hall  which  the  Catholics  owned,  and,  before 
the  end  of  his  pastorate,  in  the  meeting-house  of  the  Universal ists. 

When  Father  Purcell  was  given  charge  of  Pittsfield  the  Catholics  of 
Cheshire  received  closer  care,  and  soon  under  his  direction  began  the  build- 
ing of  the  pretty  village  church  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Assumption,  which  was 
dedicated  on  the  8th  day  of  August,  1 879,  under  the  pastorate  of  Father  Mc- 
Cort,  who  had  been  given  Cheshire  as  a mission  upon  his  appointment  to  the 
charge  of  Adams.  It  is  still  the  mission  of  Adams,  and  its  two  hundred  and 
more  Catholics  have  the  happiness  of  Mass  every  Sunday,  and  the  affectionate 
care  of  the  priests  of  Adams  at  all  times. 

The  Catholic  people  of  Cheshire  are  a thrifty  and  self-respecting  body, 
and  known  in  Berkshire  as  especially  faithful  to  all  the  duties  of  their  faith. 


NOTRE  DAME  DE  SEPT.  DOULEURS, 

Adams. 

'UST  one  year  beyond  a quarter  of  a century  need  we  go  to  find  the 
French-Canadian  people  of  Adams  assisting  for  the  first  time  at  Mass 
in  a body  by  themselves.  Then,  January  4,  1872,  Father  Charles  Cre- 
vier,  the  pastor  of  the  Sacred  Heart  church  at  North  Adams,  gathered 
them  into  a hall  on  the  third  story  of  a building  in  the  town,  and  said  Mass 
for  them  and  preached  to  them  in  their  native  tongue. 

Five  years  later,  on  Park  street,  upon  land  which  he  had  already  pur- 
chased for  $2500,  he  built  a frame  chapel  at  a cost  of  $5000.  The  original 
yet  serves  the  people  as  a school  for  the  parish  children. 

In  September,  1882,  Bishop  O’Reilly  made  the  Rev.  John  Baptist  Char- 
bonneau,  then  a curate  of  Father  Crevier,  the  first  resident  pastor  of  the  Cana- 
dians of  Adams. 

The  young  priest  brought  zeal  and  activity  to  his  work,  and  in  a few 
months  had  the  great  happiness  of  announcing  to  his  people  that  the  mort- 
gage of  $4000,  which  was  on  the  chapel  when  he  came,  was  cleared  away,  and 
they  were  free  from  debt. 

Mr.  R had  a beautiful  property  which  the  young  pastor,  thinking 

of  God's  glory,  would  make  God’s  own  ; yet  such  a thing,  when  first  suggested, 
seemed  but  a pleasant  dream.  Dreamers,  however,  in  every  age,  have  done 


42 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


great  things,  and  so  did  the  dreamer  here.  The  property,  through  a success- 
ion of  fortunate  circumstances,  actually  came  into  the  hands  of  the  Canadian 
people  for  the  moderate  sum  of  $15,000.  Father  Charbonneau,  in  1887, 
hardly  five  years  from  the  time  of  his  appointment,  laid  the  foundation  of  the 
spacious  and  beautiful  church  which  is  the  pride  of  the  Canadian  people  to- 
day. Bishop  O’Reilly  is  reported  as  having  called  the  church  of  the  Sept. 
Douleurs  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  his  diocese.  It  is  of  Romanesque  archi- 
tecture, 1 50  feet  long  by  70  feet  wide,  and  has  seating  capacity  for  1500  people. 

The  erection  of  the  church  was  immediately  followed  by  the  building  of 
the  presbytery  close  by,  even  in  the  shadow  of  the  sanctuary.  This  he  did 
in  1890.  Three  years  later,  June  22d,  he  died,  and  was  succeeded  in  the  pas- 
torate by  Rev.  L.  O.  Triganne,  who  was  then  pastor  of  the  Canadian  people 
of  Pittsfield.  Father  Charbonneau  was  deeply  mourned.  His  people  loved 
and  trusted  him,  and  the  people  outside  his  fold  then  spoke  high  words  of 
praise  for  him,  and  do  so  to  this  day.  He  was  active  and  successful.  He 
could  make  friends  and  retain  them,  and  this  quality  worked  him  benefit 
materially,  as  well  as  socially,  as  the  priest  who  now  directs  the  affairs  of  the 
parish  intimates,  when  he  writes  that  to  encourage  him  in  the  public  good 
which  he  was  doing,  the  rich  American  Protestants  did  not  forget  to  loose 
their  purse  strings  and  make  the  pastor  of  Notre  Dame  many  princely  pres- 
ents. In  this  connection  he  mentions  as  especially  deserving  of  the  honor 
and  gratitude  of  the  Canadian  people,  M.  M.  Brown,  L.  L.  Brown,  W.  C. 
Plunkett,  C.  T.  Plunkett,  and  M.  Renfrew. 

Father  Charbonneau  had  as  assistants  at  Notre  Dame,  in  1885,  while  he 
was  away  on  a voyage  to  Europe,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Chari ebois  and  the  Rev. 
Joseph  Marchand,  now  the  pastor  of  Three  Rivers.  In  1892  he  had  the  Rev. 
J.  E.  Marcoux,  and  in  1893  Rev.  A.  Eanglois.  Since  the  Christmas  of  1896 
the  parish  has  known  the  efficient  labors  of  Rev.  L.  Felix  Goheiz. 

Father  Triganne,  the  present  pastor  of  the  church  of  Notre  Dame,  was 
born  in  the  province  of  Quebec  in  i860.  He  studied  at  Nicolet  College,  and 
was  there  ordained  in  1884.  He  served  the  diocese  of  Three  Rivers  in  Canada 
for  two  years,  thence  coming  to  the  Springfield  diocese  in  1886;  was  curate 
at  Holyoke  and  at  North  Adams,  till  he  was  elevated  to  the  pastorate  of  Notre 
Dame,  at  Pittsfield,  in  1889. 

When  Father  Triganne  assumed  the  charge  of  Notre  Dame,  there  was  a 
debt  of  $32,000  to  be  met.  By  the  will  of  Father  Charbonneau  a legacy  of 
$10,000  came  to  the  parish,  which,  however,  left  the  debt  at  $22,000.  In  just 
four  years  and  a half  after  his  coming.  Father  Triganne  had  cleared  the  whole 
of  the  parish  indebtedness.  As  soon  as  he  had  paid  the  last  mortgage,  he 
began  the  construction  of  a parish  school  and  convent  at  a cost  of  $30,000, 
and  this  school  will  open  its  doors  in  September,  1899.  Six  Sisters  of  the 
Holy  Cross,  from  St.  Laurent,  Montreal,  will  have  charge  of  the  new  school 
and  convent. 

Since  1882  to  1898  there  were  1593  baptisms,  and  368  marriages.  Within 
that  time  35  converts  from  Protestantism  have  sought  peace  of  soul  within 
the  walls  of  Notre  Dame. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


43 


In  1897  the  Canadian  people  of  Adams  were  estimated  at  more  than  two 
thousand  souls;  now,  in  1898,  Father  Triganne,  the  pastor,  says  there  are 
three  thousand  souls  in  a general  population  of  nine  thousand  five  hundred. 
“We  have,”  he  adds,  “ 550  families,  and  of  this  number  there  are  200  voters, 
and  60  householders.”  The  bulk  of  the  people  work  in  the  mills : perhaps 
half  a score  are  in  commercial  life.  They  have  reputation  as  peaceable  and 
industrious  folk,  and  here,  on  the  heart  of  the  mountains,  far  from  the  tumult 
of  the  great  cities,  lead  a happy  life  ; they  are  blessed  with  church  and  school, 
with  the  care  of  a good  and  capable  pastor,  and  the  expres.sed  good  will  of 
Catholic  and  Protestant  neighbors. 


ST.  PETER’S  CHURCH, 

Great  Barrington. 

|EV.  JOHN  D.  BRADY,  of  Cabotville,  came  to  Great  Barrington 
some  time  in  1841,  and  said  Mass  for  the  people  in  the  Town  Hall, 
l^\  then  the  second  floor  of  the  building  known  as  the  “Hollister 
Store.  ’ ’ 

Until  the  coming  of  Father  O’Cavanaugh  as  assistant  in  1845,  the  people 
knew  Father  Brady’s  services  at  irregular  intervals,  thenceforward  his  or  his 
curate’s  more  frequently,  till  the  appointment  of  Father  O’ Cavanaugh  as 
pastor  of  Pittsfield  in  1848.  In  Father  O’ Cavanaugh’s  pastorate  the  people 
had  Mass  every  three  months. 

When  Father  Cuddihy  succeeded  Father  O’ Cavanaugh  as  pastor  of  Pitts- 
field in  1851,  he  assumed  the  care  of  Great  Barrington,  and  two  years  later, 
1853,  he  bought  a sightly  spot  for  a church  on  the  land  above  the  river,  and 
built  thereon,  in  1855,  the  present  church  of  St.  Peter,  wherein  he  and  his 
curate.  Father  Purcell,  ministered  to  the  people  until  the  removal  of  Father 
Cuddihy  to  Milford.  Thereafter  the  people  knew  the  kindly  care  of  Father 
Purcell  and  his  assistants  till  the  appointment,  in  1864,  of  Father  Minietti  as 
the  first  resident  pastor. 

He  was  succeeded  in  1868  by  Rev.  Charles  Grace,  who  in  turn  was  fol- 
lowed, July,  1872,  by  Rev.  Peter  Eagan.  In  September,  1873,  Father  James 
Hennessy  replaced  Father  Eagan,  and  here  remained  till  his  death,  August 
21,  1883. 

In  November,  1882,  Father  Hennessy  received  as  curate  Rev.  John  H. 
Murphy,  who,  at  his  pastor’s  death,  was  promoted  to  the  headship  of  the 
parish.  Father  Murphy  was  made  pastor  of  Lee,  in  December,  1891. 

The  curates  who  have  served  this  parish  were  Rev.  John  H.  Murphy, 
from  November,  1882,  to  his  appointment  as  pastor  one  year  later  in  1883  ; 
Father  D.  F.  Hurley,  November,  1883,  to  July,  1884;  Father  James  McLaugh- 
lin, August,  1884,  to  January,  1886;  Father  Martin  Murphy,  January,  1886,  to 
December,  1887;  Father  Thomas  Reynolds,  January,  1887,  to  March,  1887; 
Rev.  Edward  Fitzgerald  thenceforward  to  the  going  of  Father  John  Murphy 
to  Lee,  December,  1891. 

Father  Edward  S.  Fitzgerald,  as  “locum  teneus,”  wisely  administered 
the  parish  up  to  November,  1892;  the  month  following  Rev.  Dr.  David 


44 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Moves  became  pastor,  and  so  served  till  1894.  Then  came  Rev.  John  Fagan 
as  “locum  tenens,”  with  Father  William  Adrain  as  assistant,  and  so  remained 
till  the  appointment  of  Rev.  Martin  Murphy  as  pastor  in  January,  1895. 
Father  Adrain  assisted  Father  Murphy  till  November,  1897.  April  4,  1895, 
Rev.  Thomas  McGovern  was  appointed  as  the  second  assistant,  and  at  the 
going  of  Father  Adrain  came  Rev.  William  B.  Fallon,  January  i,  1898. 

Great  Barrington  has  had  Housatonic,  Sheffield  and  Mill  River  as  mis- 
sions till  January  6,  1899,  when  Rev.  John  F.  Fagan  was  made  the  first  resi- 
dent pastor  of  Housatonic.  This  lightened  Father  Murphy’s  work,  and  made 
it  possible  for  him  to  dispense  with  Father  Fallon’s  services.  Father  Thomas 
McGovern  still  assists  him. 

Since  the  formation  of  the  parish  in  1864,  the  records  show  2362  bap- 
tisms and  531  marriages,  with  fifty  converts  to  the  faith, — “converts  from 
conviction,”  says  the  pastor,  describing  them. 

A great  change  has  come  over  the  spirit  of  Great  Barrington,  as  is  the 
case  in  most  of  the  Berkshire  towns,  since  the  days  of  the  church’s  advent. 
Everywhere  now  the  church  is  admired,  and  her  priests  received  with  marked 
respect.  Yet  in  the  early  days  this  was  not  so.  Although  the  “town  hall” 
was  engaged  by  Catholics  for  the  first  Mass,  it  was  not  so  easy  to  procure  it 
for  a second  or  a third,  and  very  soon  it  was  not  possible  at  all.  In  this 
extremity  the  poor  Catholics  gathered  for  Mass  in  an  old  school-house,  which 
then  stood  near  the  present  Searles’  estate.  Father  O’Cavanaugh  a little 
later,  ouce  or  more  times,  could  do  no  better  than  seek  the  shade  of  an  apple 
tree  for  his  altar. 

In  Father  Cuddihy’s  time  the  Mass  was  said  in  the  dwelling-houses,  and 
finally,  when  weather  permitted,  in  an  old  barn  then  standing  close  to  the 
site  of  the  present  church.  At  such  times  the  people  would  protect  the  altar 
from  wind  and  storm  with  the  linen  sheets,  which  those  best  able  to  afford 
brought  from  their  homes  and  tacked  up  from  tree  trunk  to  tree  trunk  in  the 
open  orchard,  or  from  beam  to  beam  on  the  stretch  of  the  barn.  The  blood 
of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  church,  and  the  people  of  the  old  days  were 
given  hardships  enough  to  make  their  faith  pricelessly  dear  to  them.  At 
this  day  the  fervor  of  their  love  for  it  is  always  manifest,  and  the  children  of 
the  early  Catholics  thus  show  that  they  have  been  pioperly  taught  the  value 
which  their  sires  had  put  upon  its  preservation.  The  original  Catholic 
settlers  were  about  ninety  in  number,  and  every  soul  Irish. 

The  parish  has  the  home  church,  a frame  structure,  and  the  priest’s 
hou.se,  with  a stable,  all  on  the  original  church  land.  Down  in  the  best  part 
of  the  town  is  the  splendid  “Housatonic  Hall”  property,  purchased  April 
4,  1890,  by  Rev.  John  H.  Murphy  from  George  Dresser  at  a cost  of  ^12,000, 
upon  which  stand  two  fine  dwellings,  used  hitherto  as  an  aristocratic  private 
school,  a stable  and  out-houses, — such  as  are  found  on  the  grounds  of  rich 
country  gentlemen.  Here  is  a plot  of  ground  upon  which  Father  Martin 
Murphy  hopes  to  be  soon  able  to  build  a new  church,  which  will  be  more  in 
keeping  than  St.  Peter’s  with  the  dignity  of  Divine  worship,  and  the  deserts 
of  a good  and  growing  people. 


Rev.  JOHN  H.  MURPHY. 


Rev.  M.YRTIN  MURPHY. 


Rev.  JAMES  F.  MAHER. 


Rev.  JOHN  M.  KENNEY. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


4,0 


In  Mill  River,  the  mission  of  Great  Barrington,  the  Mass  was  first  said 
in  1841,  probably  by  Father  John  D.  Brady.  There  were  present  ten  people, 
Henry  English,  Timothy  Wrinkle  and  wife,  John  and  Stephen  Wrinkle, 
Andrew  Devine,  wife  and  family.  In  1866  Father  Minietti  built  the  little 
church.  Mill  River  now  has  two  hundred  or  more  Catholics. 

Sheffield  heard  its  first  Mass  at  about  the  same  time,  and  very  probably 
this  Mass  was  said  by  Father  Brady.  Father  O’Cavanaugh  is  named  as  the 
pioneer  priest  in  the  town,  but  if  this  be  so  the  Mass  could  not  have  been 
said  till  after  October,  1845,  for  then  it  was  that  Father  O’Cavanaugh  became 
assistant  to  Father  Brady  at  Cabotville.  There  are  somewhat  more  than  two 
hundred  Catholic  souls  in  Sheffield,  many  of  them  well-to-do  farmers  and 
property-holders.  The  pretty  little  church  wherein  they  worship  was  built 
for  them  in  1884  by  Rev.  John  H.  Murphy. 

The  Catholic  people  of  St.  Peter’s  parish  now  number,  counting  in  the 
missions,  close  to  twelve  hundred  souls.  They  are  honored  and  respected  by 
their  neighbors.  Within  five  years  several  of  them  have  gone  into  active 
business  and  the  professions,  and  the  fact  that  more  than  one-half  of  the 
clerks  in  the  town  are  Catholics  argues  volumes  for  their  honesty  and  the 
likelihood  of  wider  control  of  business  life  in  the  future.  In  the  social  world 
Catholics  are  with  the  best,  while  they  have  considerable  power,  which,  it 
may  be  said  to  their  credit,  they  have  always  wisely  used  for  the  general 
good  of  the  town.  The  pastor.  Father  Martin  Murphy,  is  young,  zealous  and 
eminently  successful.  He  has  proved  himself  prudent  in  the  business  affairs 
of  the  parish,  as  well  as  untiring  in  its  spiritual  work.  He  has  cleared  the 
parish  of  all  its  debt,  and,  with  a snug  sum  earning  interest,  is  waiting,  while 
plans  mature,  to  lay  the  broad  foundations  of  a new  temple  which  he  and  his 
people  hope  to  soon  rear  on  the  best  street  of  the  beautiful  town  to  the  glory 
of  their  God. 

Father  Martin  Murphy  was  born  in  Kilkenny,  Ireland,  was  educated  at 
Waterford,  and  there  ordained  in  1884.  He  was  assistant  at  Chicopee  Falls 
and  Westfield,  and  then  made  pastor  of  Cordaville  in  October,  1892.  He  has 
been  promoted  twice  since,  in  October,  1893,  to  Oxford,  and  from  Oxford  to 
Great  Barrington  two  years  later. 

ST.  PATRICK’S  CHURCH  AND  ST.  AGNES’  CHURCH, 

Hinsdale  and  Dalton.’ 

' IN SD ALE  (so  called  for  Rev.  Theodore  Hinsdale,  who  came  from 
l■^-j  Windsor,  in  Connecticut,  and  settled  in  the  town  as  early  as  1795, 
1(9  I and  who,  with  Deacon  Starr,  organized  a Congregational  church, 
consisting  of  23  members),  tradition  says  had  a Catholic  congre- 
gation and  was  visited  by  Father  Brady  and  the  priests  who  attended  Pitts- 
field and  surroundings  in  the  forties. 

Father  Fitton  himself  speaks  of  visiting  and  saying  Mass  “as  far  west 
as  Great  Barrington,  and  the  villages  of  Berkshire  county  as  early  as  1832.” 


* “ Sketches,”  p.  326. 


46 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


That  he  ever  said  Mass  in  Hinsdale,  however,  he  does  not  say,  nor  have  we 
now  any  opportunity  of  learning. 

The  first  church,  St.  Patrick’s,  was  built  in  1852  by  Rev.  Father  Cud- 
dihy,  the  pastor  of  Pittsfield.  Here  the  priests  came  from  Pittsfield  to  attend 
the  people,  till  September,  1868,  when  Father  Romano  was  named  as  the  first 
resident  pastor.  The  parish  of  Hinsdale  embraces  Dalton,  Becket,  Middle- 
field,  Washington,  Windsor  and  Peru.  In  May,  1872,  Rev.  P.  V.  Moyce,  an 
eloquent  preacher  and  scholar,  replaced  Father  Romano,  but  died  in  July  fol- 
lowing. Rev.  P.  J.  Sheehan,  who  was  then  the  curate  at  Pittsfield,  was 
appointed  in  August  and  died  the  next  year.  In  April,  1873,  Rev.  Patrick 
McManus  became  pastor.  He  died  in  December,  1874.  Father  B.  McKeeney 
was  “locum  tenens  ” then  till  the  appointment  of  Rev.  John  B.  Daley  in 
January,  1875.  Rev.  Daniel  F.  Cronin,  the  present  pastor,  came  in  July,  1876, 
and  is  now  rounding  out  near  to  a quarter  of  a century  of  uninterrupted  and 
beneficent  labors.  Since  the  founding  of  the  parish  to  January,  1899,  there 
have  been  2,175  baptisms  and  526  marriages,  with  a fair  number  of  conver- 
sions. The  people  number  2,000  souls. 

Dalton,  the  mission,  has  the  pretty  church  of  St.  Agnes,  built  in  1880 
by  Father  Cronin,  at  a cost  of  $17,000.  So  generously  did  the  people  aid 
him,  and  so  heartily  did  even  Protestants,  notably  Messrs.  Crane,  Weston, 
Carson  and  Brown,  assist  that  Father  Cronin  was  able,  the  day  of  the  dedica- 
tion, to  present  the  bishop  a new  church  nearly  free  from  debt. 

Mr.  Brown,  a Protestant,  donated  the  land  upon  which  stands  the  church  ; 
another  Protestant,  the  Hon.  Byron  Weston,  purchased  the  bell  for  the  tower ; 
while  the  Messrs.  Crane,  who  are  of  like  belief,  gave  the  initial  offering  to 
the  church  building  fund, — a clean  one  thousand  dollars. 

The  good-will  thus  shown  pastor  and  people  has  had  its  blessed  fruit ; 
the  kindliest  spirit  reigns  in  Dalton  between  neighbor  and  neighbor. 

Dalton  is  as  old  in  Catholic  life  and  nearly  as  important  as  the  parish 
seat,  Hin.sdale.  Father  Brady  said  Mass  here  in  1842,  and  came  every  few 
months  thereafter  till  his  death.  Father  Cuddihy  and  Father  Purcell,  of 
Pittsfield,  attended  the  place,  and  from  1861  to  1873,  in  Father  Purcell’s  time, 
it  was  the  regular  mission  of  St.  Joseph’s.  It  was  then  attached  to  the  parish 
of  Hinsdale. 

The  curates  who  have  seen  service  here  were  Rev.  George  M.  Fitzgerald, 
who  came  in  January,  1883,  and  remained  two  years;  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Fitz- 
gerald, from  1885  till  1887;  Rev.  John  J.  Nelligan,  from  1888  till  1890; 
Rev.  William  C.  M.  McCaughan,  from  1891  till  1894;  Rev.  James  M.  Pender- 
gast,  from  1894  till  1898  ; Rev.  James  B.  O’Malley  came  in  June,  1898,  and 
still  labors  in  Hinsdale. 

Father  Daniel  Cronin  was  educated  in  the  Worcester  public  schools,  and 
afterwards  at  Holy  Cross  college,  whence  he  graduated  in  1869.  He  studied 
theology  with  the  Sulpician  Fathers  at  Montreal,  and  was  then  ordained  a 
priest  in  the  late  winter  of  1872.  He  assisted  at  Brookfield  for  four  years, 
and  was  then  made  pastor  of  Hinsdale.  Now  he  is  the  senior  pastor  of 
Berkshire. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


47 


Father  Cronin  is  a gentle,  scholarly  man,  fond  of  home  and  his  parish. 
He  has  a strong  hold  on  the  affections  of  the  towns-people,  and  is  of  controll- 
ing force  in  the  moral  and  civic  life  of  the  villages.  His  bishop  early  recog- 
nized his  scholastic  attainments,  and  made  him  one  of  the  diocesan  examiners. 
He  is  now  the  senior  member  and  chairman  of  the  Board.  At  his  home  the 
schools  would  find  it  hard  to  go  on  without  him. 

The  Catholic  people  of  Hinsdale  and  Dalton  are  a law-abiding,  order- 
loving  body;  they  are  noted  for  intelligence,  cleanliness  of  moral  life,  thrift 
and  sobriety.  Many  have  their  own  homes,  while  a few  are  well-to-do,  and 
have  high  place  in  the  business  of  the  town. 

The  superintendents  of  the  Hinsdale  Woolen  Company  have  always  been 
Catholics,  “and  men  of  excellent  character,”  says  their  pastor,  “who  have 
done  much  to  give  a tone  and  a morality  to  the  whole  town.” 

ST.  BRIDGET’S, 

Housatonic. 

IN  1846,  Father  Bernard  O’Cavanaugh  celebrated  Mass  in  the  home  of 
Michael  O’Hearn,  about  one  and  a half  miles  from  the  village  of  Housa- 
tonic. Eighteen,  or  thereabout.  Catholic  Irish  families  were  then 
living  in  the  town  and  vicinity.  Thereafter  every  three  months  the 
priest  came.  In  Father  Peter  Eagan’s  time.  Mass  was  said  once  in  two 
months  in  the  home  of  Roger  Norton,  and  after  Father  Minietti  was  made 
pastor  of  Great  Barrington,  once  each  month  for  about  two  years,  many  of 
the  times  in  “Academy  Hall,”  now  the  public  school.  Mass  each  month 
was  celebrated  for  the  people  during  the  pastorates  of  Fathers  Grace,  Eagan 
and  Hennessy  till  the  coming  of  Rev.  John  Murphy.  In  1876,  Father  James 
Hennessy  built  the  present  church.  Since  the  advent  of  Rev.  John  Murphy 
the  people  have  attendance  each  Sunday,  while  during  the  pastorate  of  his 
brother.  Father  Martin  Murphy,  they  have  had  the  fullest  attention  due  a 
home  parish. 

“ I was  appointed  pastor  of  Housatonic,  January  6,  1899,”  writes  Rev. 
John  F.  Fagan,  “and  officiated  at  the  Masses  on  the  15th.  The  church, 
while  still  a mission,  had  two  Masses, — the  second  a High  Mass,  and  a ser- 
mon at  each.  They  had  Sunday-school  and  Vespers.  I have  simply  kept 
up  the  custom.” 

There  are  380  Irish  Catholics,  71  German,  24  French,  and  50  Poles, — 
525  souls.  The  parish  has  a church  and  land  enough  for  a new  church,  cen- 
trally located,  together  with  a house  and  plot  of  land  elsewhere  in  the  town. 
Plans  for  a house  and  church  have  already  been  submitted  to  the  new  pastor, 
and  the  people  look  now  for  a period  of  great  activity. 

“All  my  people,”  says  Father  Fagan,  “with  the  exception  of  about  a 
dozen,  work  in  the  cotton  mill, — the  only  industry  in  the  town.  They  are 
above  the  average  in  intelligence  and  virtue.  We  have  started  a Holy  Name 
Society,  and  have  two  fine  rooms,  and  through  this  society  hope  to  do  much 
good  for  the  community.  I live  with  a merchant  of  the  town,  named  Robert 
McDonald,  who  keeps  neither  a hotel  nor  a boarding-house,  for  he  has  con- 


48 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


stantly  refused  desirable  applicants  for  rooms  and  for  board,  although  he  has 
accommodations.  He  is  a bachelor  and  has  chosen  to  live  here  and  to  run  the 
place  through  a colored  man  who  is  cook,  housekeeper  and  everything  else. 
He  received  me  together  with  a lawyer,  and  I was  more  than  fortunate,  as 
there  is  not  one  other  suitable  place  in  the  town  that  could  be  .secured.” 

Father  John  Fagan,  the  new  pastor,  is  well  known  to  the  people,  for  he 
was  the  acting  pastor  of  Great  Barrington,  just  before  the  appointment  of 
Father  Martin  Murphy.  He  has  been  received  by  them  with  g^eat  rejoicing,  and 
deservedly  so  ; for  Father  Fagan  is  an  exceptionally  zealous  and  capable  priest. 

He  was  born  at  North  Adams,  studied  in  her  schools,  graduated  from 
the  Drury  Academy,  and  then  from  Holy  Cross  College  in  1883.  He  made 
his  theological  course  at  Montreal,  and  was  ordained  there  in  December, 
1886.  He  was  appointed  curate  at  the  cathedral,  in  Springfield,  just  after 
ordination,  and  there  remained  with  the  exception  of  special  missions  to 
places  of  trust  for  short  periods,  till  his  appointment  to  Housatonic. 

ST.  MARY’S  CHURCH, 

Lee. 

fHERE  is  tradition  in  Lee  that  Rev.  John  D.  Brady,  several  times  between 
1841  and  October,  1847,  came  to  the  Catholics  of  Lee,  and  that  after 
him.  Rev.  Bernard  O’ Cavanaugh,  who  was  assistant  to  Father  Brady 
from  October,  1845  to  his  death,  October,  1847,  who  then  became  pastor  of 
Pittsfield,  did  them  like  service.  We  have  not  been  able  to  authenticate  any 
public  service  in  their  time,  though  it  would  appear  almost  a certainty  that 
such  a service  had  been  held. 

As  far  as  snre  record  goes.  Father  Enright,  a priest  from  Ireland,  said 
the  first  Mass  in  May,  1850.  He  was  then  collecting  through  this  country 
for  a church  in  Ireland.  This  Mass  was  said  in  the  Red  Lion  School  House. 
The  people  repeatedly  sought  for  a more  suitable  place,  but  were  refused  on 
every  hand. 

At  this  time  there  were  a goodly  number  of  Irish  Catholics  in  the  town. 
They  came  in  numbers  with  the  building  of  the  Housatonic  railroad.  This 
was  in  1849,  Father  Cuddihy,  who  came  now  and  then,  while  pastor  of 
Pittsfield,  to  attend  them,  considered  them  in  1856  sufficiently  strong  to  build 
a church.  This  they  enabled  him  to  do.  That  year  he  built  St.  Mary’s, 
which  yet  serves  the  Catholic  people.  The  year  the  church  was  built,  Lee 
became  a parish,  and  Rev.  Peter  Eagan  was  made  its  first  pastor.  He  died 
in  1864,  and  Father  George  H.  Brennan  came  in  his  stead.  Father  Brennan 
returned  to  Ireland  in  1883,  after  resigning  his  parish,  and  Father  Terrence 
Smith,  now  pastor  of  Pittsfield,  became  the  third  pastor  of  Lee. 

During  Father  Smith’s  incumbency  parochial  schools  were  established 
in  Lee.  The  generosity  and  zeal  of  Jane  Sedgwick  accomplished  this.  The 
Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  from  Chambery  in  France,  came  thither  through  her  in- 
fluence, and  Father  Smith  gladly  welcomed  them.  He  gave  his  own  house 
to  them  for  a convent,  and  in  every  way  made  the  path  of  their  labors  a plea- 
sant one.  They  not  only  teach  the  schools,  and  with  signally  good  results, 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


49 


but  visit  the  sick  and  afflicted  of  the  parish  as  well.  The  school  of  St. 
Mary’s  parish  is  the  only  parochial  school  in  southern  Berkshire. 

Father  Smith  was  promoted  to  Pittsfield  in  December,  1891,  and  Rev.  John 
Murphy,  then  pastor  of  Great  Barrington,  came  in  his  place.  Father  Murphy 
is  still  in  charge.  The  school,  which  takes  its  children  through  all  the  gram- 
mar grades,  and  so  prepares  those  so  desiring,  to  enter  the  public  high  school, 
has  about  two  hundred  children  under  care  of  six  sisters.  Since  1856  there 
have  been  3996  baptisms  and  833  marriages,  and  since  1883,  20  conversions. 

When  Father  Murpliy  was  given  the  care  of  Lee,  there  was  $7,500  of  a 
parish  debt.  He  has  improved  and  beautified  the  church,  grounds  and  build- 
ings, and  has  paid  off  in  full  the  indebtedness. 

The  curates  who  have  served  at  Lee  were  Revs.  D.  J.  O’Sullivan,  one 
year;  James  Kelly,  one  year ; James  Donahue,  a few  months ; Edward  Martin, 
eighteen  months;  Francis  Brennan,  nine  months;  Maurice  Sullivan,  one 
year;  Thomas  Reynolds,  three  years;  Edmund  D.  Casey,  one  year;  John 
Griffin,  six  years ; John  J.  Mullan,  six  years,  and  still  there. 

Father  Murphy,  the  present  pastor,  was  born  in  county  Kilkenny,  Ireland, 
in  1 85  3,  was  educated  at  Waterford  College,  and  was  ordained  in  1 878.  Coming 
to  this  country  soon  after  ordination,  he  w'as  sent  as  assistant  to  his  uncle.  Very 
Rev.  Patrick  Healey,  V.G.,  at  Chicopee.  In  1883  he  was  appointed  pastor 
of  Great  Barrington,  where  he  remained  until  given  charge  of  St.  Mary’s,  Lee. 

St.  Francis’  Church,  Mission. 

A short  time  before  leaving  Lee  Father  George  Brennan  built  in  1878 
the  pretty  church  of  St.  Francis  at  South  Lee,  at  a cost  of  just  over  three 
thousand  dollars.  The  church  stands  on  the  main  street  of  the  town.  It 
will  seat  350  people.  Lee  holds  it  as  a mission. 

When  the  Catholic  people  of  Lee  first  assembled  for  public  services  in 
1850,  there  were  present  about  one  hundred  souls.  Now  they  number  close 
to  two  thousand. 

The  Lee  Catholics  as  a body  are  markedly  respectable  uKd  intelligent, 
and  possess  the  good  will  of  their  fellow  townsmen.  “ There  is  no  political 
office  in  the  gift  of  the  town,”  writes  their  pastor,  “ but  at  some  time  has  been 
filled  by  a representative  of  our  people.  They  are  in  every  branch  of  the 
business  life  of  the  town,  and  some  of  them  are  leaders  in  the  professions. 
They  have  high  standing  in  the  community.  Their  advice  is  sought  in  all 
public  matters  and  a generous  good  feeling  is  at  all  times  manifested  towards 
them.”  They  possess  church,  school,  convent,  rectory  and  stable,  all  in  good 
condition  and  unembarrassed  by  debt. 

ST.  ANN’S  CHURCH, 

Lenox. 

IN  December,  1891,  Lenox  was  made  a parish,  and  Rev.  William  J.  Dower 
was  appointed  the  first  resident  pastor.  F'ather  Dower  was  born  in  East 
Cambridge  in  1858,  was  educated  at  the  Worchester  High-school,  Holy 
Cross  College  and  Montreal  Seminary,  and  was  ordained  in  Springfield 

4 


50 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


in  December,  1882.  With  the  exception  of  three  months  spent  in  Worcester, 
his  whole  life  as  a curate  was  passed  in  Holyoke. 

Lenox  had  Catholics  within  its  borders  as  far  back  as  the  early  forties, 
and  perhaps  before  Revolutionary  times ; for  we  find  in  the  list  of  the  first 
permanent  settlers  si:ch  Irish  names  as  McCoy,  Gleason  and  Collins  ; in  addi- 
tion to  this  we  read  that  by  “unanimous  vote  of  the  town,”  in  1828  the  names 
of  the  signers  of  the  “ covenant”  of  1774,  were  ordered  to  be  put  upon  the 
town  records,  and  we  rejoice  to  see  amongst  the  men  who  did  “ solemnly  and 
in  good  faith  covenant  and  engage  with  each  other,”  to  “not  import,  pur- 
chase or  consume  or  suffer  any  person  for,  by  or  under  us,  to  import,  purchase 
or  consume  in  any  manner  whatever,  any  goods,  wares,  or  manufactures 

which  shall  arrive  in  America  from  Great  Britain until  our  charter 

and  constitutional  rights  shall  be  restored,”  such  names  as  Curtis,  Tracy, 
Cary,  Barrett,  Gates,  MacKay,  Landers  and  Collins.^ 

Possibly  the  above  proves  nothing  to  our  purpose,  more  than  that  it  gives 
some  right  to  dwell  upon  the  pleasant  possibility  which  the  names  suggest, 
and  only  in  this  measure  do  we  offer  it  here. 

There  were  twelve  or  more  Catholic  families  in  Lenox  in  1846,  and 
some  time  in  that  year  John  MacKey,  a good  Catholic  man,  in  their  name 
and  at  their  request,  wrote  to  Father  Brady,  pastor  of  Cabotville,  asking  him 
to  come  to  the  people.  Father  Brady  came,  and  on  a week  day  said  Mass  for 
them  in  the  cottage  home  of  William  Gorman,  who  then  lived  on  what  is  now 
Depot  street.  This  Mr.  Gorman  is  said  to  have  been  the  second  Catholic  Irish- 
man a known  resident  of  Lenox.  Three  or  four  times  thereafter  Father  Brady 
said  Mass  in  the  town,  usually  in  the  home  of  Mrs.  Bridget  Mahanna,  as  did 
Father  O’Cavanagh  after  him,  when  pastor  of  Pittsfield,  and  Father  Cuddihy 
in  turn  during  the  early  days  of  his  pastorate  in  Berkshire.  The  pastor  of 
Lenox  writes  of  this  good  old  lady  as  held  in  affectionate  remembrance  as  one 
of  the  earliest  and  always  the  most  constant  of  workers  of  the  faith. 

Father  Cuddihy  in  1852  organized  here  a mission  for  Pittsfield,  and  said 
Mass  as  regularly  as  possible  up  to  1856.  That  year  Lee  was  made  a parish, 
and  Father  Peter  Eagan,  the  new  pastor,  was  given  charge  of  Lenox  ; thence- 
forward the  people  heard  Mass  once  a month  in  the  town  hall  till  the  coming 
of  Father  Brennan  to  Lee.  He  came  in  1864;  and  in  1871  built  the  first 
church  iu  Lenox,  in  which  the  Catholics  since  have  had  divine  service  every 
Sunday. 

Father  Terrence  Smith,  who  was  the  third  pastor  of  Lee  and  Lenox, 
enlarged,  improved  and  beautified  this  church  in  1882. 

“ Miss  Jane  ” Sedgwick  made  possible  the  schools  at  Lee  and  the  church 
in  Stockbridge.  Another  Sedgwick,  “ Miss  Grace,”  afterwards  Mrs.  Charles 
Astor  Bristed,  more  than  anybody  else  helped  to  the  building  of  St.  Ann’s 
at  Lenox.  She  “contributed  and  collected,”  says  Father  Dower,  “enough 
to  buy  the  church  lot,  and  left  more  than  nine  hundred  dollars  in  the  priest’s 
hands  for  the  building  of  the  church.” 

She,  like  Miss  Jane,  was  a convert  to  the  faith,  and  like  Miss  Jane,  be- 
’ Barber’s  Recollections,  pp.  79,  81,  82. 


Rev.  T.  M.  SMITH  (Deceased.) 


Rev.  JOHN  F.  FAGAN. 


Rev.  D.  F.  CRONIN. 


¥\  it 


tftl 


1 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


51 


longed  to  the  g^reat  family  of  the  Berkshire  Sedgwicks.  She  was  the  daughter 
of  Charles  Sedgwick,  who  for  many  years  was  clerk  of  the  County  Court  at 
Lenox.  He  was  considered  the  first  and  fastest  friend  of  the  poor  Irish  people 
in  the  early  days,  and  as  is  usual  with  our  grateful  people,  was  loved  and 
revered  in  return.  When  he  died  in  1856  twenty-four  Irishmen  insisted  upon 
showing  their  affection  for  him  by  carrying  in  relays,  his  body  upon  their 
shoulders  the  five  miles  of  journey  between  Lenox  and  the  family  tomb  in 
Stockbridge.  His  son.  Major  William  Sedgwick,  fell  in  the  battle  of  Antie- 
tam,  and  when  the  body  was  brought  home  his  Irish  neighbors  again  showed 
their  respect  for  the  family  by  rendering  to  the  soldier  son  the  same  affection- 
ate service  they  had  before  extended  to  his  father. 

The  church  in  Lenox  has  grown  from  the  handful  of  iron  miners  and 
farmers  of  1840  and  after,  to  more  than  eleven  hundred  residents  of  the  town. 
In  summer  the  congregation  is  increased  beyond  three  hundred  adults  more 
by  those  who  make  their  home  each  season  in  the  hills. 

There  are  perhaps  twenty-five  families  of  French  Canadians  in  the  parish; 
all  the  rest  are  of  Irish  stock,  or  natives  who  are  converts. 

Since  Father  Dower’s  coming  to  January  i,  1899,  there  have  been  375 
baptisms,  41  marriages  and  several  conversions. 

The  parish  is  in  excellent  condition,  the  people  are  good  and  help  the 
church  most  generously  ; and  Father  Dower  has  been  wise  in  gathering  and 
expending.  The  parish  has  a church,  rectory,  stable,  and  large  horse  sheds 
for  the  farmers.  The  Catholics  have  a fair  share  of  the  town’s  business  life  ; 
in  moral  reputation  they  stand  with  the  highest,  while  intellectually  they  are 
the  equals  of  any  other  working  people  in  the  small  towns  of  the  State.  They 
lack  union  in  political  work,  hence  they  have  not  the  influence  which  other- 
wise could  be  theirs. 

ST.  JOSEPH’S, 

Pittsfield. 


IN  1737  Jacob  Wendell  bought  from  the  Government  at  Boston,  and  at 
public  auction,  a grant  of  land  in  Berkshire,  whereon  is  now  the  city  of 
Pittsfield.” 

“ Pittsfield,”  says  John  Warner  Barber,  who  wrote  in  1839,  ” is  finely 
situated  at  the  junction  of  the  principal  branches  of  the  Housatonic  river,  and 
occupies  a beautiful  expansion  of  the  valley  between  the  Taconic  and  Green 
Mountain  range.  There  are  in  the  village  four  churches : one  Congregational, 
one  Episcopal,  one  Baptist  and  one  Methodist.  . . . Population,  3,575.” 

Four  years  before  Mr.  Barber  thus  wrote.  Rev.  Jeremiah  O’ Callaghan  had 
been  in  Pittsfield,  and  had  said  Mass  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Daly,  who  then  lived 
“beyond  the  tannery  on  the  Dalton  road.” 

“The  people  present,”  says  Miss  Mullaney  in  Catholic  Pittsfield.,  “were 
Thomas  Coleman  and  wife,  Michael  Mullaney,  Patrick  Welsh,  Mr.  Prender- 
gast,  Mrs.  Ryan,  and  Mr.  Daly  with  his  family.” 

Mr.  Barber  evidently  knew  nothing  of  the  presence  of  Catholics  in  Pitts- 
field in  1839,  when  he  wrote  of  the  “ four  churches;”  had  he  known,  and  had 
he  some  gift  of  prophecy,  ever  so  faint,  what  a story  he  could  have  told  ! 


52 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


“At  the  first  Mass,”  says  the  pastor  of  St.  Joseph’s,  Father  Smith  (1898), 
“there  were  five  or  six  persons  present;”  but  Miss  Mnllaney  gives  ns  the 
names  of  seven,  and  leaves  the  inference  of  two  or  three  more  when  she  speaks 
of  “ Mr.  Daly  and  his  family.’’  Be  the  greater  count  the  true  count,  even  then 
the  Catholics  of  Pittsfield  are  now  (1899)  increased  more  than  a thousand  fold; 
and  if  Mr.  Barber  could  have  seen,  in  less  than  the  scriptural  measure  of  one 
man’s  life,  three  score  years  and  ten,  the  Catholics  of  whose  presence  he  knew 
nothing  in  1839,  grow  to  nearly  thrice  the  number  of  souls  which  he  had 
counted  from  every  side  within  the  lines  of  the  beautiful  town  which  the 
Indians  had  called  “ Poontoosuck,’’  “the  haunt  of  the  winter  deer,’’ before 
Mr.  Wendell  had  bought  it,  or  the  Deeming  family  (1752)  had  come  there 
to  live. 

There  is  on  the  Revolutionary  rolls  of  the  town  the  name  of  a Continental 
soldier,  Patrick  McGee.  Its  owner  very  probably  was  Catholic.  Plunkett, 
too,  was  a Catholic  name.  The  first  Catholic  townsmen  known,  however, 
were  the  Coleman  brothers,  who  in  1832  had  walked  hither  from  Albany  in 
search  of  labor.  Thomas  Coleman  it  was,  who  three  years  later,  gathered  the 
people  for  Mass  at  Father  O’ Callaghan’s  behest.  This  brave  old  priest  was 
then  stationed  at  Burlington  Vt.,*  and  had  charge  of  the  Catholics  in  that 
State  and  in  the  towns  of  Berkshire  thereto  adjoining.  He  came  at  least 
once  each  year  to  Pittsfield  till  1839,  when  age  and  growing  infirmities,  has- 
tened and  aggravated  by  the  unreasoning  hate  of  Know-Nothing  neighbors, 
made  thenceforward  the  journey  to  Pittsfield  impossible. 

We  cannot  now  learn  what  attention  was  given  the  Catholic  people  be- 
tween 1839  and  1841,  at  which  date  Father  John  D.  Brady,  who  then  came 
from  Salem,  Mass.,  as  the  first  pastor  of  Cabotville  (Chicopee),  had  as  missions 
all  the  land  between  his  home  and  the  New  York  State  line.  Once  every 
three  months  the  people  looked  for  him.  Through  the  kindness  of  D.  Pome- 
roy & Sons,  he  was  permitted  to  say  Mass  in  a brick  building  then  owned  by 
them  near  the  present  (1899)  freight  depot;  afterwards  he  called  the  people 
into  a small  house  at  the  junction  of  Railroad  avenue  and  North  Pearl  street, 
while  in  good  weather  they  were  glad  to  gather  for  divine  sacrifice  out  in  the 
open  air  under  the  trees.  Towards  the  end  of  1843  people  were  increased 
considerably,  and  began  urging  the  priest  to  build  a chapel.  For  two  hun- 
dred dollars  he  bought,  February  12,  1844,  a place  on  Melville  street,  whereon 
to-day  stands  the  church  of  Notre  Dame,  and  before  the  end  of  the  same  year 
had  built  upon  it  the  first  Catholic  church  in  Berkshire. 

On  the  parish  register  at  Chicopee  we  find  the  name  of  Bernard  O’Cava- 
nagh  for  the  first  time  in  October,  1845.  He  then  was  assistant  to  Rev.  John 
D.  Brady.  His  coming  relieved  Father  Brady  of  some  of  his  missionary 
burden,  and  henceforward  in  the  Berkshires  we  hear  the  name  of  Father 

* “ Burlington,  Vt.,  St.  Mary’s,  a beautiful  edifice,  was  reduced  to  ashes  on  the  night 
of  the  nth  of  May,  1838,  having  been  set  on  fire  in  hatred  of  the  Catholic  religion.  The 
Catholics  in  this  district,  about  1,000  in  number,  have  now  no  place  of  worship.  They 
are  attended  by  Rev.  Jeremiah  O’Callaghan,  who  for  the  present  officiates  in  a poor  hum- 
ble private  house.” — The  Metropolitan  Catholic  Almanac,  1840. 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGFIELD. 


53 


O’Cavanagh  much  oftener  than  we  do  that  of  his  pastor,  Father  Brady. 
Father  Brady  died  suddenly  October  i8,  1847,  at  Boston,  where  he  had  gone 
at  the  Bishop’s  call  to  attend  a diocesan  conference,  and  October  31st,  the 
same  year,  1847,  we  find  on  the  parish  books  the  record  of  a baptism  by  Father 
Strain,  who  then  presumably  was  his  successor. 

In  the  winter  of  1848  (December  7,  1848,  he  baptized  a child  at  Cabot- 
ville)  or  in  the  beginning  of  1849,  Father  O’Cavanagh  was  made  pastor  of 
Pittsfield,  with  the  adjoining  towns  as  missions. 

From  the  advent  of  Father  O’Cavanagh  till  the  coming  of  Father  Cud- 
dihy,  his  successor,  in  1852,  the  people  had  Mass  every  second  Snnday;  the 
other  was  given  to  the  missions. 

The  Know-Nothing  spirit  was  strong  in  the  time  of  Father  O’Cavanagh, 
so  strong  and  so  bitter  that  it  became  a hardship  for  Catholic  children  to 
attend  the  schools.  The  pastor,  at  great  sacrifice  of  time  and  means,  tried  to 
meet  the  difficulty  by  opening  his  own  school  under  parish  direction.  The 
school  was  a signal  failure,  and  at  the  coming  of  Father  Cnddihy  ceased  alto- 
gether. Father  Smith  writes  of  Father  O’Cavanagh  as  “ amiable  and  elo- 
quent we  know  that  he  was  energetic  as  well,  and  did  a great  deal  for  the 
Catholic  church  when  work  meant  sacrifice  of  self  in  the  face  of  a hundred 
difficulties.  The  old  people  of  Pittsfield  even  now  speak  tenderly  of  him, 
when  they  recall  his  rare  gifts  of  heart  and  speech,  and  the  lovableness  of 
nature  that  marked  him  in  a thousand.  Perhaps  the  memory  of  the  good  in 
him  is  all  the  more  emphasized,  because  those  who  loved  him  then  were  grief- 
stricken  at  the  dark  disgrace  that  came  upon  him  at  the  end  of  his  pastorate, 
and  which  still  hangs  a murky  cloud  over  a life  that  otherwise  had  remained  a 
benediction  forever. 

Rev.  Patrick  Cuddihy  is  a name  to  conjure  by  in  all  the  Springfield  dio- 
cese. Until  1898,  when  he  died  at  Milford,  Mass.,  in  the  ninetieth  year  of 
his  age,  he  was  the  patriarch  of  the  American  clergy.  He  was  a strong  and 
unique  personality,  was  well  educated,  quick  of  mind  and  tongue,  a man  who 
had  personally  known  many  of  the  great  ones  of  the  earth  in  his  time,  who 
was  cultured  by  long  training,  by  books  and  by  association,  and  who  withal, 
was  fearless  almost  to  rashness,  and  would  not  hesitate  to  face  a senate  in 
defence  of  his  people,  or  to  thunder  out  his  indignation  at  any  time  or  in  any 
place  at  evidences  of  injnstice,  or  what  might  appear  to  him  a wrong-doing. 

This  man  in  his  very  prime  came  to  Pittsfield.  The  spirit  of  hate, 
untruth,  and  proscription  was  marshaling  the  enemies  of  the  church.  After 
one  or  two  noisy  champions  of  Know-Nothingism  had  felt  the  bite  of  his 
notched  blade,  no  one  cared  to  farther  face  its  flame.  Soon  the  priest  had 
Pittsfield  voiceless  in  abuse  of  the  Catholics,  and  the  towns  about  wherever 
Father  Cuddihy  rode  in  a short  time  were  as  dumb  as  the  hills  that  held  them 
in  arms. 

He  was  pastor  till  1857,  when  Father  Edward  Purcell,  who  already  was 
with  him  since  coming  from  Ireland,  became  his  successor.  When  the  church 
was  built  in  1844,  there  were  in  Pittsfield  and  the  neighborhood  about  twenty 
families.  Father  Cuddihy  used  to  say  that  at  his  first  Mass  in  1852  there  were 


54 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


present  between  two  and  three  hundred  people.  They  were  all  of  the  Irish 
race,  and  came  in  from  the  towns  around,  walking,  some  of  them,  more  than 
fifteen  miles,  and  all  of  them  rejoicing  that  God  had  given  them  the  happi- 
ness of  looking  into  the  face  of  a priest. 

Father  Cuddihy  had  consuming  zeal.  It  was  not  long  till  he  had  churches 
in  the  towns  around,  in  Hinsdale,  Great  Barrington,  and  Fee,  with  missions 
in  North  Adams,  the  Stockbridges,  Lenox,  and  Cheshire.  His  parish  touched 
the  New  York  State  line,  and  came  towards  Boston  as  far  as  Westfield.  He 
used  to  say  that  he  attended  the  people  and  conferred  the  sacraments  in  twen- 
ty-two villages,  where  to-day  there  are  thirty-two  priests  doing  duty,  and 
more  than  forty  thousand  people  call  for  their  service. 

Rev.  Edward  H.  Purcell,  who  became  pastor  of  Pittsfield  when  Father 
Cuddihy  was  transferred  to  Milford,  was  born  in  Ireland,  had  studied  at  May- 
nooth,  and  had  come  immediately  upon  ordination  to  Pittsfield.  Pittsfield 
knew  all  his  life’s  labors  ; he  died  here  in  1891.  He  was  easy-going  and 
guileless,  yet  capable  in  parish  management  beyond  most  men.  He  it  was 
who  purchased,  in  March,  1863,  for  0,000,  the  lot  of  land  upon  which  is 
reared  the  stately  pile  of  gray  granite  we  call  St.  Joseph’s.  He  built  it.  The 
corner-stone  was  laid  August  28,  1864,  by  the  Very  Rev.  John  J.  Williams, 
then  Vicar-General  of  Boston,  and  the  church  was  dedicated  November  ii, 
1866,  by  the  Bishop  of  Boston,  Right  Rev.  John  J.  Williams,  who,  as  Vicar 
General  two  years  before,  had  put  in  place  its  corner-stone.  Father  Clarence 
Walworth,  the  then  famous  Paiilist,  preached  at  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone, 
and  at  the  dedication  Bishop  McFarland,  of  Hartford,  preached  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  Rev.  Sherwood  Healy,  brother  of  Bishop  Healy,  of  Portland,  in  the 
evening. 

Father  Purcell  likewise  built  the  elegant  parsonage,  laid  out  the  grounds, 
planted  the  trees,  and  made  the  whole  one  of  the  sightliest  church  properties 
in  all  our  land. 

He  worked  even  from  his  grave  for  the  glory  of  his  church.  By  will  he 
left  a sum  of  money  that  has  helped  materially  to  lighten  the  burden  of  his 
successor.  Father  Terrence  Smith,  who  has  built  and  embellished  the  beauti- 
ful new  convent  and  academy,  and  made  the  grounds  around  it  a very  park — 
a beauty-spot,  where  much  is  beautiful  iu  an  acknowledged  beautiful  city. 

The  curates  of  Pittsfield  have  been:  Revs.  Charles  Lynch,  1860-1863; 
Michael  T.  McGuire,  1863-1866;  N,  Lamarque,  1866-1867;  R.  J.  Patterson, 
1867-1869;  John  Cummings,  1867-1870  ; James  O’Brien,  1869-1870;  Walter 
Henneberry,  1870-1871;  J.  T.  Sheehan,  1872-1878;  Thomas  Smyth,  1873- 
1874;  Laurence  Derwin,  1874-1876;  Richard  Walsh,  1876-1878;  R.  S.  J. 
Burke,  1878-1882;  John  McDermott,  1879-1887;  H.J.  Mulligan,  1882-1883; 
Michael  Harty,  1883-18 — ; Thomas  Joyce,  1883-1884;  M.  J.  Courtney,  1884- 
18 — ; Thomas  McLaughlin,  1885-1896;  Patrick  Burke,  1887-1890,  and  John 
M.  Kenny,  1890,  John  F.  Fitzgerald,  1896,  and  J.  J.  Bell  1897,  which  last 
three  curates  yet  ( 1 899)  serve  the  people. 

From  1847  to  July,  1898,  the  records  of  St.  Joseph’s  show  13,587  baptisms 
and  3,102  marriages.  Until  the  last  decade  of  years  no  special  record  of  con- 


ST.  JOSEPH'S  CHURCH. 
Pittsfield,  Mass. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


55 


verts  was  made ; since  then  the  church  has  received  an  average  of  nine  each 
year,  who  were,  the  pastor  says,  “ men  and  women  of  good  morals  and  of 
unblemished  reputation.”  In  1882  some  stir  was  made  in  the  town  by  the 
conversion  of  Professor  A.  J.  Sawyer,  principal  of  the  high  school,  and  a pupil 
named  Otto  Meyer,  who  died  while  preparing  for  the  priesthood  with  the 
Paulists. 

The  church  of  St.  Francis  at  North  Adams  had  been  consecrated  October 
4,  1887.  St.  Joseph’s  was  consecrated  on  Thanksgiving  Day,  1889.  Bishop 
O’Reilly  was  the  consecrating  prelate,  and  the  venerable  Archbishop  of  Bos- 
ton  was  celebrant  of  the  Solemn  High  Mass.  At  the  morning  service  Rev. 
Thomas  Conaty,  of  Worcester,  preached  a sermon  on  the  ‘‘True  Church,” 
and  Rev.  Thomas  D.  Beaven,  of  Spencer,  preached  in  the  evening.  Four 
years  later,  November  9,  1891,  Father  Purcell  died. 

The  whole  city  mourned  him.  The  Mayor  of  the  city,  Charles  E.  Hib- 
bard, issued  a notice  to  the  citizens,  in  which  he  spoke  with  great  tenderness 
of  his  loss  to  the  municipality.  “The  death,”  he  wrote,  “of  one  who  has 
been  so  long  and  intimately  identified  with  this  community,  whose  influence 
has  been  so  wide  and  healthful,  demands  from  us  more  than  ordinary  notice, 
and  I therefore  recommend  that  as  an  expression  of  our  respect  for  Father 
Purcell  all  places  of  business  be  closed  Thursday,  November  12th,  from  ten  to 
twelve  o’clock,  the  hours  of  his  funeral.” 

This  thoughtfulness  touched  the  Catholic  heart  of  Pittsfield,  and  has  done 
its  share  for  kindly  feeling  among  the  people  of  all  the  churches.  A few  days 
after  the  funeral  of  Father  Purcell,  Bishop  O’Reilly  appointed  Father  Ter- 
rence Smith,  of  Lee,  to  the  vacancy.  Father  Smith  had  been  the  curate  of 
Father  Lynch  at  North  Adams  from  1876  till  his  appointment  as  pastor  of 
Greenfield  in  1881.  He  was  well  known  in  Pittsfield,  and  his  coming  thither  at 
Christmas  time  was  joyful  knowledge  for  the  people.  He  is  still  (1899)  the 
pastor. 

Father  Smith  was  born  in  County  Cavan,  Ireland,  November  5,  1849,  ^^d 
received  his  classical  education  in  the  college  of  Kilmore  ; he  studied  theology 
in  Baltimore,  Md.,  for  two  years,  and  finished  in  Carlow.  He  was  ordained 
in  Springfield,  October  14,  1875,  and  was  immediately  sent  to  Palmer  as  assist- 
ant to  Rev.  Francis  Lynch.  In  September,  1876,  he  was  transferred  to  North 
Adams,  whence  he  went  to  Greenfield  as  pastor,  in  December,  1881.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1883,  he  was  appointed  pastor  of  Lee,  coming  thence  to  St.  Joseph’s. 

He  is  a very  giant  in  stature,  is  said  to  possess  unusual  mental  power, 
and  is  remembered  in  his  young  priesthood  by  the  clergymen  of  two  decades 
ago,  as  markedly  gentle  in  manner,  and  of  singular  beauty  and  charm  of 
person.  In  spite  of  his  majestic  proportions,  however,  for  years  he  has  not 
been  a well  man.  Yet  he  has  done  a great  amount  of  work. 

The  building  and  equipping  of  St.  Joseph’s  Academy,  together  with  the 
opening  of  a day  school  and  kindergarten  in  connection  therewith,  may  be 
called  his  last  and  chiefest. 

The  Academy  was  opened  on  the  14th  of  September,  1897,  under  the  care 
of  seven  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  with  Sister  Irene  as  superior.  There  are  row 


56 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGFIELD. 


nine  Sisters  in  charge.  The  corner-stone  had  been  laid  by  Bishop  Beaven  in 
May,  the  year  before,  upon  which  occasion  Rev.  Francis  McCarthy,  S.  J.,  had 
preached  on  Christian  Education  and  the  Religious  Vocation.  St.  Joseph’s 
has  many  noble  traditions,  upon  which  for  years  the  souls  of  her  children  may 
be  fed.  Her  greatness  in  the  things  of  God  is  assured,  while  the  children 
follow  in  the  paths  which  their  fathers’  lives  have  everywhere  made  along  the 
slopes  of  our  western  hills. 

OUR  LADY  OF  GOOD  COUNSEL, 

Pittsfield. 

(5  I HE  parish  of  French-Canadians  in  Pittsfield  was  set  apart  from  St. 

^ I Joseph’s  in  1867.  There  were  then  said  to  be  one  hundred  families  of 
Catholic  Canadians  in  the  city,  and  Father  N.  Lamarque,  who  already 
was  serving  them  as  curate  to  Father  Purcell,  was  made  their  first  pastor. 
The  congregation  gathered  for  divine  services  in  the  old  church  built  by 
Father  Brady  in  1844.  Father  Lamarque  remained  but  one  year  as  pastor  in 
Pittsfield,  then  Father  A.  Derbuel,  in  1868,  succeeded  him.  When  Father 
Derbuel  was  promoted  to  West  Boylston  in  December,  1870,  he  gave  place  to 
the  saintly  Father  Quevilion. 

Four  years  later  Father  Quevilion  bought  of  St.  Joseph’s  parish  the  old 
church  and  property  on  Melville  street  for  six  thousand  dollars,  had  it  repaired, 
enlarged  and  beautified — and  this  church  answered  the  needs  of  the  people  till 
the  building  of  the  new  and  beautiful  church  of  Notre  Dame,  which  was  dedi- 
cated in  May,  1897,  just  thirty-three  years  from  the  founding  of  the  parish. 

Father  Quevilion  died  in  1892,  in  the  eighty-seventh  year  of  his  age,  and 
full  of  merits.  He  was  reputed  of  most  saintly  life,  and  was  honored  and 
beloved  by  people  of  every  class. 

He  was  born  in  Canada  in  June,  1805,  studied  at  Montreal,  and  was  or- 
dained there  in  1828.  He  served  on  the  Canadian  mission  for  nine  years,  then 
for  a period  in  Oswego,  and  at  Syracuse,  New  York ; again  for  five  years  at 
St.  Elizabeth’s,  in  Montreal ; and  wherever  hard  work  had  to  be  done : — in 
the  States,  at  Burlington,  Vt.  ; on  the  Isle  Bizard  ; again  in  Canada  ; then  on 
St.  Edward’s  Island  ; once  more  at  Syracuse  ; next  at  Holyoke,  in  our  State, 
and  finally  at  Pittsfield,  where  he  died.  He  sleeps  in  his  native  parish,  St. 
Vincent  de  Paul,  in  Canada. 

In  1882,  Father  Quevilion,  feeling  the  weight  of  years  and  hardships, 
resigned  his  parish  that  a younger  man  might  be  given  to  his  people.  Father 
Desaulnier  came.  He  was  replaced  in  1890  by  Father  Triganne,  now  pastor 
of  Notre  Dame,  in  Adams.  Father  Triganne  was  active,  business-like  and 
successful.  In  his  three  years’  service  in  Pittsfield  he  had  collected  from  a 
parish  of  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  families  (though,  of  course,  aided  by 
their  neighbors),  twenty-three  thousand  dollars.  That  sum  was  drawing 
interest,  when,  upon  Father  Triganne’s  promotion  to  Adams,  Rev.  Amable 
L’Heureux  came  to  Pittsfield.  Father  L’Heureux  built  the  new  church. 
The  corner-stone  was  laid  by  Bishop  Beaven,  September  15,  1895,  Father 
Crevier,  of  Holyoke,  preaching  the  sermon.  The  ehurch  was  completed  and 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


67 


dedicated  May  2,  1897.  Bishop  Beaven  was  the  officiating  prelate,  and  the 
Redemptorist  Father  Billian,  of  Montreal,  was  the  preacher. 

The  present  pastor  (1899),  Father  L’Heureux,  was  born  at  St.  Valerian, 
Quebec,  in  1857.  He  studied  at  St.  Hyacinthe,  Canada,  and  was  there  or- 
dained priest  in  1882,  He  did  duty  in  the  diocese  of  St.  Hyacinthe  for  five 
years,  then  was  assistant  at  Ware,  this  diocese,  for  three  and  a half  more.  He 
was  the  pastor  of  Fiskdale  three  years,  until  made  pastor  of  the  Canadian 
people  of  Pittsfield,  in  September,  1893. 

Rev.  Amable  L’Heureux  is  broken  in  health,  and  has  been  so  since  his 
appointment  to  Pittsfield.  Notwithstanding  this  he  has  done  a wonderful 
work  in  the  city  for  his  people,  and  is  so  credited  by  men  of  every  class. 
While  building  the  church  of  Notre  Dame,  which  is  acknowledged  the  finest 
church,  architecturally  considered,  in  all  the  Berkshires,  his  days  were  a mar- 
tyrdom. More  times  than  once  has  he  been  at  death’s  door,  yet  always  rallied, 
to  the  happiness  of  seeing  the  great  work  done.  As  I write,  May,  1899,  he  lies 
sick  in  the  hospital,  under  the  care  of  the  Sisters  of  Providence,  at  Holyoke. 

Father  Varilly,  who  was  born  in  Galway,  Ireland,  April  25,  1859,  was 
assistant  to  Father  L’Heureiix  from  January  8,  1897,  to  May  28,  1898,  when 
Rev.  Father  Lord,  of  Holyoke,  succeeded  him,  and  yet  attends  the  parish. 
There  have  been  1600  baptisms  since  1867  in  this  parish,  and  512  marriages. 

The  Canadian  people  of  Pittsfield  stand  well  in  the  community  ; they  are 
said  to  be  generous  in  church  affairs  beyond  what  is  usual  elsewhere,  and  this 
has  had  reward  in  the  beautiful  temple,  which  is  their  especial  pride,  as  it  is  a 
source  of  pride  to  everybody  in  Pittsfield. 


ST.  CHARLES’  CHURCH, 

Pittsfield. 

IN  the  autumn  of  1893  the  new  parish  of  St.  Charles  was  cut  off  from  St. 
Joseph’s,  and  Rev.  Charles  Boylan,  then  pastor  of  Oxford,  was  directed 
by  the  bishop  to  assume  the  charge.  Father  Boylan  purchased  in  the 
following  January  land  at  “ Morningside  Hill,”  and  in  the  spring  had 
the  parish  so  well  in  hand,  that  it  was  thought  wise  to  break  land  for  the  new 
church.  This  he  did  on  the  20th  day  of  May.  October  the  7th  following, 
Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Beaven  blessed  the  corner-stone,  and  dedicated  the  new  tem- 
ple to  the  service  of  God.  The  new  church  is  the  creation  of  Messrs.  Rath- 
burn  and  Harding,  architects,  as  also  is  the  sightly  parsonage  built  by  Father 
Boylan  two  years  later.  In  length  the  church  is  one  hundred  and  forty  feet, 
and  seventy-six  in  width,  while  from  ground  to  the  cross  on  the  tower,  we 
measure  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  feet.  It  is  of  brick  with  marble  trim- 
mings, and  is  of  the  Renaissance  order  of  architecture. 

When  St.  Charles’  was  given  to  Father  Boylan  it  had  two  thousand  souls 
within  its  lines. 

Father  Boylan,  the  first  pastor,  was  born  in  County  Cavan,  Ireland,  in 
May,  1854.  His  parents,  who  were  teachers,  instructed  him  till  ready  for  col- 
lege. In  1875  he  had  completed  his  classical  studies  at  Carlow,  thence  came 
for  theology  to  Montreal,  where  he  was  ordained  to  the  priesthood  in  1878. 


58 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


For  three  years  he  assisted  Father  Quaille  at  Turner’s  Falls,  and  for  four  years 
more  served  the  church  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  at  Worcester.  He 
was  made  pastor  of  Oxford  in  1886,  and  there  labored  till  the  Bishop  removed 
him  to  Pittsfield.  In  1897  Father  Boylan’s  health  began  to  fail,  and,  though  of 
large  and  powerful  build,  he  was  unable  to  stand  up  against  the  nervous  strain, 
and  was  obliged  to  relinquish  the  church  of  St.  Charles  and  its  labors  for 
the  older  and  less  burdensome  parish  of  Millbury.  In  this  parish  he  was  no 
jbetter  ; and  after  a few  weeks  laid  aside  all  parish  responsibility  and  spent  a 
year  in  rest  and  travel.  He  is  now  in  restored  health  the  pastor  of  Hatfield. 

Father  Boylan  was  succeeded  January  26,  1898,  by  Rev.  William  Goggin, 
who  was  till  then  the  pastor  of  Millbury.  With  him  in  the  work  of  St. 
Charles  is  Rev.  William  Ryan,  who  has  served  since  October  31,  1897. 

Father  Goggin  was  born  in  Middletown,  County  Cork,  Ireland,  February 
21,  1847;  he  studied  at  St.  Charles,  Baltimore,  made  theology  at  St.  Mary’s, 
same  city,  was  ordained  there  December  21,  1878,  and  immediately  came  as 
assistant  to  the  cathedral.  In  1883  Bishop  O’Reilly  made  him  the  rector, 
and  in  1886  pastor  of  Millbury.  He  was  January  26,  1898,  called  thence  by 
Bishop  Beaven  to  Pittsfield. 

St.  Charles’  was  fortunate  in  receiving  the  services  of  Father  Goggin, 
who  has  always  been  looked  upon  as  especially  able,  pious  and  prudent.  He 
has  already  made  himself  a force  in  the  parish  and  city  life,  and  gives  promise 
of  great  usefulness  in  the  coming  years. 

March  12th  of  the  present  year,  1899,  Bishop  Beaven  blessed  for  St. 
Charles’  church,  a magnificent  bell,  weighing  with  its  apparatus  2,800  pounds, 
and  standing  4 feet  from  floor  to  top.  It  is  the  gift  of  James  W.  Sheehan 
and  Peter  Paul  Curtin,  and  is  called  in  memory  of  their  wives,  “ Maria,”  and 
“Julia.”  A large  body  of  people.  Catholic  and  Protestant,  among  them  both 
branches  of  the  City  Government,  were  present. 

Bishop  Beaven  preached  the  sermon  explanatory  of  the  symbolism  of  the 
bell  and  the  blessing,  wherein  he  pleased  and  edifled  the  great  gathering. 
The  Pittsfield  Eagle  of  the  next  day  referred  to  the  bishop’s  work  as  “ most 
able  and  touching.”  From  the  making  of  the  parish  to  1899,  there  have 
been  268  baptisms,  5 5 marriages  and  2 conversions. 

Pittsfield  Catholics  stand  high  in  the  social,  educational,  political,  and 
industrial  life  of  the  city.  The  place  is  markedly  free  from  sectarian  ill-will ; 
and  the  show  of  bigotry,  which  is  common  elsewhere,  is  very  rare  here. 
Many  of  the  best  public  offices  are  filled  by  our  people,  and  well  filled.  Good 
feeling  with  neighbors  prevails,  and  good  feeling  grows  where  our  people 
every  hour  are  proving  themselves  deserving  of  it. 

ST.  JOSEPH’S  CHURCH. 

West  Stockbridge. 


N St.  Patrick’s  Day,  1735,  the  Legislature  granted  the  Housatonic 
Indians,  called  by  the  settlers  “the  river  Indians,”  “a  township  six 
miles  square  to  be  laid  out  in  the  Housatonic  river  immediately 
north  of  the  Monument  mountains,  . . . and  in  April,  1736,  they 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


59 


laid  out  the  town  in  a square,  which  includes  the  present  townships  of 
Stockbridge  and  West  Stockbridge,”  says  an  old  historian^  of  the  Massachu- 
setts town. 

After  some  show  of  success  in  civilizing  and  educating  the  Indians  had 
been  made  they  gradually  tired  of  the  restraint,  and  began  to  go  in  families 
to  the  Indians  of  New  York  and  elsewhere  in  the  West.  The  English  then 
bought  the  Indians’  rights,  and  one  family  after  another  came  to  settle  in  the 
town.  After  naming  some  of  the  old  families,  the  author  quoted  above  adds  : 
“Families  by  the  name  of  Ball,  Hamilton,  Cadwell  and  Lynch  were  in  the 
west  part  of  the  town  ...  at  an  early  period.”  Were  these  Irish  people,  as 
the  names  in  every  family  betoken,  and  did  they  settle  by  themselves  apart 
because  of  kinship  and  blood,  and,  may  we  conjecture,  because  of  faith  ? No 
man  now  knows. 

The  Catholic  history  of  the  town  commences  with  the  day  in  1848,  when 
Father  O’Cavanagh  of  Cabotville  said  Mass  in  the  house  of  Michael  Stanton, 
then  living  near  the  Feet  Ore  Beds  in  the  mining  district  of  West  Stock- 
bridge.  The  place  thenceforward  knew  the  care  of  the  same  Father  O’Cava- 
nagh, who,  late  in  December,  1848,  or  early  in  1849,  was  made  pastor  of  Pitts- 
field. When  Father  Cuddihy  came,  and  after  him  Father  Purcell,  each  in 
turn  said  Mass  for  the  people  in  the  home  of  Martin  Powers,  and,  as  the  Cath- 
olic body  grew,  in  the  town  hall.  When  Lee  became  a parish  Stockbridge 
and  West  Stockbridge  were  given  to  the  care  of  the  new  pastor. 

Father  Peter  Eagan  began  the  erection  of  St.  Joseph’s  church  in  Stock- 
bridge,  now  the  mission  church,  in  i860.  It  remained  unfinished  till  the 
time  of  Father  Carroll,  who  was  aided  very  materially  in  the  work  by  the 
noted  convert,  Jane  Sedgwick.  St.  Patrick’s  church  in  West  Stockbridge, 
the  parochial  .seat,  was  begun  by  Father  George  Brennan  in  1869,  and  in 
1871  Rev.  John  J.  O’Laughran  was  made  the  first  resident  pastor.  The  peo- 
ple dearly  loved  this  good  priest,  and  were  inconsolable  at  his  death,  three 
years  later,  on  March  7,  1874.  Father  Michael  Carroll  came  as  his  successor. 
He  built  the  parochial  residence. 

St.  Patrick’s  church  is  a frame  structure  100  feet  in  length  and  50  feet  in 
width.  It  has  seating  capacity  for  about  700  people,  and  is  neat  and  devo- 
tional in  character. 

St.  Joseph’s,  in  “old”  Stockbridge,  is  of  stone,  and  has  for  the  Catholic 
unusual  interest.  “Miss  Jane”  Sedgwick,  niece  of  Catherine  Sedgwick, 
whose  literary  fame  was  the  pride  of  Berkshire,  and  who  was  herself  a woman 
of  rare  mental  gifts,  became  a Catholic  while  Stockbridge  was  yet  a mission 
of  Lee.  Through  her  influence,  and  through  the  generous  aid  personally 
given  him  by  her.  Father  Carroll  was  enabled  to  complete  the  church.  The 
great  Paulist,  Father  Isaac  Hecker,  who  was  a friend  of  Miss  Sedgwick,  em- 
powered by  the  bishop,  laid  the  corner-stone.  In  the  shadow  of  the  little 
gray  church  Miss  Sedgwick  sleeps  peacefully  waiting  the  resurrection,  her 
memory  blessed  and  a prayer  breathed  for  her  soul  by  every  Catholic  going 
in  and  coming  out  of  its  doors. 

'Barber,  “Historical  Collections,”  p.  99. 


60 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Father  Carroll  was  pastor  of  West  Stockbridge  from  1874  till  his  death, 
in  1885.  August  the  23d  of  that  year  Rev.  John  T.  Madden,  now  the  perma- 
nent rector  of  Webster,  came  and  wisely  administered  the  parish  affairs  up  to 
the  appointment  of  the  present  pastor,  Rev.  James  Maher,  in  1892.  In  the 
time  of  Father  Carroll  the  parish  had  as  curates.  Father  Thomas  Joyce, 
something  more  than  a year,  James  McCloskey  for  about  the  same  period, 
and  William  Hart,  now  pastor  of  Palmer,  for  three  years. 

The  people  are  Irish  or  the  children  of  the  Irish,  and  number  in  both 
places  about  800  souls,  350  in  old  Stockbridge  and  450  in  West  Stockbridge. 

There  have  been,  since  1871  to  August,  1898,  1287  baptisms,  and  328 
marriages.  There  have  been,  since  1881,  eleven  converts  to  the  faith. 

The  parish,  though  small,  is  very  complete.  In  West  Stockbridge  the 
people  have  a church,  priests’  house  and  stable  adjoining,  five  acres  of  land 
and  a cemetery. 

The  present  pastor.  Father  Maher,  was  born  in  Clinton  in  1851,  was 
graduated  from  Holy  Cross  College  in  1880,  and,  after  a theological  course 
in  Troy  Seminary,  was  ordained  December  22,  1883.  For  nine  years  he 
assisted  Rev.  Denis  Moran  at  Adams,  and  was  appointed  pastor  of  West 
Stockbridge  in  November,  1892. 

The  Catholic  people  came  to  this  parish  originally  as  laborers,  many  of 
them  as  workers  in  the  iron  mines.  This  industry  has  now  ceased,  and  the 
people  seek  labor  on  the  farms  and  in  the  little  mills  hereabout,  or,  in  the 
summer  time,  as  servants  in  the  families  who  annually  seek  health  and  rest 
in  the  hills.  They  are  of  excellent  moral  reputation,  however,  and  are  pro- 
vident and  respected. 

ST.  PATRICK’S  CHURCH, 

WiLLIAMSTOWN. 

IN  the  early  forties  the  people  had  to  go  to  North  Adams  for  the  sacra- 
ments, whenever  word  was  passed  along  the  hills  that  the  priest  would 
come  there  from  Vermont.  Tradition  has  it  too  that  twice  a year  they 
journeyed  to  Albany  to  have  their  children  baptized,  and  for  the  other 
sacraments  of  which  they  were  in  need. 

It  is  said  that  Father  Cavanaugh,  and  after  him  it  is  sure  that  Father 
Cuddihy,  and  then  Father  Purcell  came  at  intervals  to  Williamstown  ; but  there 
is  no  authentic  record  of  a public  Mass  till  1859,  when  Rev.  Edward  Purcell, 
then  pastor  at  Pittsfield,  gathered  about  fifty  people  into  the  home  of  Thomas 
McMahan,  on  West  Main  street,  and  there  offered  up  the  divine  sacrifice. 

To  one  knowing  the  zeal  of  the  priests  named  before,  it  is  not  easy  to 
believe  that  the  people  never  had  Mass  till  1859,  and  this  seems  the  more 
incredible  from  the  fact  that  Father  Cuddihy  is  recorded  as  purchaser  of  two 
lots,  secured  at  different  times  for  church  purposes,  one  at  the  junction  of 
Main  street  and  West  road,  the  other  on  North  street  just  north  of  the  Grey- 
lock  hotel,  before  1857.  These  purchases  would  .seem  to  argue  an  interest  on 
his  part,  and  a sufficient  number  of  Catholics  in  the  town  to  call  for  Mass  and 
some  measure  of  regular  attendance. 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGEIELD. 


61 


The  Mass  in  1859,  however,  is  the  one  recorded  as  the  first,  and  the 
present  pastor  writes  (1899),  that  of  the  fifty  people  then  present  there  yet 
survive  Thomas  McMahan,  Mrs.  Denis  Neyland,  James  Bridgman,  Mrs, 
Margaret  Maloney,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Michael  McCarthy,  Mrs.  Margaret  Walsh, 
Patrick  Kelly  and  wife,  Thomas  Quinn,  Patrick  Clark,  Mrs.  James  Fitz- 
gerald, Mrs.  Hanorah  Bridgman,  Michael  Cleary  and  wife,  Patrick  Cleary, 
Bridget  Fleming,  Denis  Donohue,  Bernard  Manning  and  wife,  Mrs.  James 
McCauly,  John  Quinn  and  wife,  and  Mrs.  Mary  Ryan. 

After  the  first  Mass  the  priest  came  once  a month  to  the  home  of  Mr. 
McMahan.  In  the  spring  of  the  following  year  a brick  school-house,  then 
standing  on  South  street,  was  rented  for  Mass,  and  served  for  several  months; 
then  Cole’s  hall  on  East  Main  street  for  a period,  till  the  purchase  of  the 
building  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Park  streets,  about  three  years  later. 

This  building  adjoined  the  grounds  of  the  Williamstown  College  Presi- 
dent. Originally  it  was  the  “Williamstown  High-school  Academy,”  but  had 
been  used  in  its  declining  course  as  a post-office  and  general  country  store. 
Its  site,  a quarter  of  an  acre,  was  the  most  desirable  in  the  town,  and  Father 
Eynch  cast  longing  eyes  upon  it.  A committee,  Thomas  McMahan,  Patrick 
Dally,  Michael  Welsh  and  Thomas  Quinn,  was  instructed  to  buy  it.  The 
committee  had  to  proceed  cautiously;  for  their  purpose,  if  known,  would 
defeat  them.  Through  the  good  offices  of  a neighbor,  the  place  became 
theirs,  and  after  needed  repairs,  was  made  the  mission  church,  and  so  served 
until  1879.  By  ^ fortunate  incident  then  the  people  were  given  a new  church 

Cyrus  W.  Field,  of  Atlantic  Cable  fame,  had  donated  a large  sum  of 
money  to  Williamstown  College,  for  the  repair  and  painting  of  the  buildings. 
In  the  very  midst  of  the  renovated  property  stood  the  Catholic  church,  old, 
dingy  and  falling  to  decay.  The  people  were  too  poor  to  build  anew  of 
themselves.  In  a conversation  with  Thomas  McMahan,  Mr.  Field  proffered 
help  to  the  Catholics,  if  effort  was  made  to  put  the  church  in  keeping  with 
its  improved  surroundings.  He  was  taken  at  his  word.  Father  Lynch  razed 
the  old  church  to  the  ground,  and  in  its  stead  reared  a larger  and  better, 
capable  of  seating  375  worshipers,  after  plans  by  Architect  James  Murphy  of 
Providence.  Mr.  Field  sent  the  priest  a check  for  ^^500,  and  the  Protestant 
townspeople  gave  $500  more. 

This  church  was  never  formally  dedicated  till  the  summer  of  1889,  during 
the  pastorate  of  Rev.  Edmund  D.  Casey.  It  was  on  the  occasion  of  the  first 
visit  of  the  Bishop,  Right  Rev.  P.  T.  O’Reilly,  who  came  to  confirm  the 
children.  Rev.  Charles  Burke  of  North  Adams,  with  neighboring  priests, 
assisted  the  Bishop,  and  Rev.  John  J.  McCoy,  then  pastor  of  Westborough, 
Mass.,  preached  the  sermon. 

After  the  death  of  Father  Lynch,  1883,  Williamstown  knew  the  regular 
care  of  Rev.  Charles  E.  Burke,  his  successor,  till  April,  1887,  when  Rev. 
Edmund  D.  Casey  was  made  the  first  resident  pastor.  Father  Casey  was 
born  in  Barre,  Mass.,  in  1853  or  1854,  but  was  reared  in  Holyoke,  Mass.  He 
studied  in  the  Holyoke  schools.  Holy  Cross  College,  Nicolet  and  St.  Laurent^ 
and  made  his  theology  at  Montreal  and  Alleghany.  He  was  ordained  by 


62 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Bishop  O’Reilly  in  the  Cathedral  at  Springfield,  1880,  and  was  immediately 
assigned  as  curate  to  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Conaty  at  Worcester.  After  some  years 
service  here  he  was  appointed  to  Rev.  Denis  Scannel,  the  same  city,  thence 
to  Rev.  Terrence  Smith  at  Lee,  where  he  was  serving  when  made  pastor  of 
Williamstown.  While  in  Williamstown  he  did  considerable  useful  work. 
He  repaired  the  old  church,  had  it  dedicated  by  Bishop  O’Reilly,  and  built 
an  excellent  parish  house.  Eight  years  ago,  March,  1891,  broken  in  health, 
he  was  obliged  to  relinquish  his  trust,  and  immediately  sought  affiliation  in 
the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Paul.  He  is  still  doing  excellent  service  under  the 
kindly  eye  of  Archbishop  Ireland. 

Rev.  j\I.  O’Sullivan  succeeded  Father  Casey  in  the  pastorate  and  served  the 
people  till  July  10,  1896,  when  he  was  transferred  to  Deerfield.  Rev.  John 
Fallon,  then  pastor  of  Huntington,  was  named  by  Bishop  Beaven  to  Williams- 
town, and  is  still  the  rector.  Father  O’Sullivan,  early  in  1896,  sold  the  old 
church  and  its  land  together  with  the  parish  house  to  the  college  authorities 
for  520,000,  and  July  4th  of  the  same  year  broke  ground  for  a church  large 
enough  to  seat  600  people,  upon  a new  site  purchased  on  South  worth 
street. 

Six  days  later  Father  Fallon  succeeded  him,  and  so  briskly  was  the  work 
pushed  that  the  corner-stone  was  laid  by  Bishop  Beaven,  September  20th,  the 
same  year.  The  bishop  preached  at  the  solemn  High  Mass  in  the  morning, 
of  which  Rev.  John  F.  Lehy,  S.  J.,  President  of  the  Holy  Cross  College,  was 
celebrant,  with  Rev.  Charles  Burke,  of  North  Adams,  deacon,  and  Rev.  John 
Fallon  subdeacon.  At  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  in  the  afternoon  Father 
Lehy  preached  the  sermon.  By  an  understanding  with  the  college  trustees 
the  people  were  allowed  the  old  church  for  services  till  July  i,  1897,  but  by 
the  first  Sunday  in  February  that  year  the  new  church  was  ready,  and  Father 
Charles  Burke,  of  North  Adams,  celebrated  the  first  Mass  and  preached  the 
first  sermon  therein. 

The  first  day  of  July,  1897,  the  church  was  dedicated  by  Right  Rev. 
Bishop  Beaven.  Rev.  Thomas  O’Keefe  of  Monson  was  celebrant  of  the  Mass. 
Rev.  James  J.  Donnelly  of  North  Adams  preached  in  the  morning,  and  Rev. 
John  J.  McCoy,  rector  of  Chicopee,  in  the  evening. 

Father  Fallon  has  been  eminently  successful  in  Williamstown.  He  has 
built  the  beautiful  new  church,  which  is  the  pride  of  the  Catholics,  and  taste- 
fully arranged  the  new  parish  house,  the  grounds  and  surroundings,  and  now 
may  sit  contentedly  when  the  day’s  work  is  done  looking  out  from  as  pretty 
a church  and  home  as  there  is  in  New  England,  to  hills  and  sky  that  meet 
away  in  the  east,  and  may  feel  that  as  good  a people  as  the  diocese  knows 
give  him  love  and  reverence,  and  thank  God  for  his  presence.  The  English- 
speaking  Catholics,  who  are  nearly  all  Irish,  or  the  children  of  the  Irish, 
number  450  souls,  and,  if  we  include  those  of  Blackington,  the  little  mission 
of  Williamstown,  where  Mass  is  said  every  Sunday,  150  more. 

The  worshipers  of  St.  Patrick’s  are  faithful  to  all  the  calls  of  religion, 
and,  as  is  always  the  case  with  people  of  whom  this  may  be  said,  are  respected 
and  trusted  by  their  neighbors.  A fair  proportion  of  them  are  in  respectable 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


63 


business  life,  while  others,  to  their  own  and  their  people’s  credit,  hold  several 
high  offices  in  civil  life. 

Father  John  Fallon,  the  pastor,  was  born  in  Worcester  May  3,  1859.  He 
studied  in  the  Worcester  public  schools,  then  at  Holy  Cross  College,  whence 
he  graduated  in  June,  1880.  His  theological  training  was  gained  at  St. 
Mary’s  Seminary,  Baltimore.  He  was  ordained  by  Bishop  O’Reilly,  at 
Springfield,  December  22,  1883.  He  was  assigned  immediately  after  ordi- 
nation to  Rev.  James  T.  McDermott,  at  the  Sacred  Heart  church,  Spring- 
field,  where  he  remained  till  his  appointment  as  pastor  of  Huntington  nearly 
eight  years  afterwards.  He  was  promoted  to  Williamstown  in  1896,  and  now, 
in  the  prime  of  life,  strong  and  young,  with  scholarly  tastes,  and  in  a college 
town,  would  seem  to  be  a pastor  specially  blessed  in  the  place  and  parish- 
ioners given  him  for  labor. 

Since  1887  there  were  266  baptisms  on  the  record  of  St.  Patrick’s  church, 
and  78  marriages.  There  is  no  special  record  of  conversions  to  the  faith, 
though  a respectable  number  of  people  at  different  times  have  made  choice 
of  the  old  church  as  mother. 


CHURCH  OF  ST.  RAPHAEL, 


Williamstown. 


ATHER  CREVIER  was  the  first  Canadian  priest  to  attend  to  the 


spiritual  wants  of  his  countrymen  at  Williamstown,  as  well  as  at 


Greylock.  At  Williamstown  the  first  Mass  was  said  in  a little  hall 
belonging  to  a man  named  Hall,  towards  the  end  of  January,  1872.  At  Grey- 
lock Father  Crevier  had  the  use  of  a room  in  the  public  school,  and  therein 
said  Mass  some  time  in  March,  1883. 

There  were  150  people  present  at  the  first  Mass  in  Williamstown,  and  140 
at  Greylock.  Both  places  made  then  “ the  missions  ” for  North  Adams. 

From  1872  to  1886  Father  Crevier  had  charge  of  both  places,  but  in  the 
latter  year  Father  Leduc  succeeded  him  in  the  pastorate  of  North  Adams 
and  the  missions.  Father  Leduc  built  the  handsome  brick  church,  now  serv- 
ing the  people  of  Williamstown,  in  1890. 

In  1891  Father  Langevin  was  made  the  first  pastor  of  the  Canadians  of 
Williamstown.  He  had  the  honor  but  three  weeks,  however,  for  Bishop 
Beaven  transferred  him  to  Gardner,  then  made  vacant  by  the  death  of  Rev. 
Alexander  Desaulniers,  and  St.  Raphael’s  reverted  to  Father  Leduc  as  a mis- 
sion of  North  Adams  again,  and  so  remained  till  July  13,  1893,  when  Father 
J.  E.  Marcoux  came  as  resident  pastor  to  the  people.  Father  Marcoux  built 
the  basement  of  the  church  at  Greylock,  and  said  the  first  Mass  therein  in 
August,  1894.  The  land  upon  which  stands  the  church  at  Greylock  was 
given  to  the  people  by  the  manufacturers  of  the  town,  at  the  request  of  Mr. 
W.  B.  Plunkett  of  Adams.  Mr.  Plunkett  further  showed  his  good  will  by 
promising  himself  to  meet  5 per  cent,  of  the  cost  of  building.  Mr.  Plunkett, 
though  himself  a Protestant,  comes  from  Irish  and  Catholic  ancestry.  The 
“good  drop”  in  him  shows  in  a hundred  ways,  where  the  interest  of  the 
Catholic  working  people  is  concerned. 


64 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Father  Marcoux  was  promoted  July  14,  1897,  to  the  church  of  St.  Aloy- 
sius,  Indian  Orchard,  and  Rev.  Clovis  Beaudoin  came  in  his  stead,  July  15th, 
the  same  year. 

When  Williamstown  was  given  a Canadian  pastor  in  1893  there  were 
then  1 15  families  of  Canadian  origin  and  of  our  faith,  and  Greylock  had  no 
more.  In  1898  Williamstown  counted  130  families  of  the  same  people,  and 
Greylock  answers  for  120.  Basing  the  number  of  souls  in  each  family  as  five, 
it  would  appear  that  the  parish  of  Williamstown  had  1 125  souls  in  1893,  and 
1250  in  July,  1898.  Since  July,  1893,  to  1898,  the  parish  has  had  236  bap- 
tisms, and  54  marriages.  The  people  have  the  church  in  Williamstown, 
built  in  1890;  the  presbytery,  built  1894  and  ’95;  a house,  purchased  in  1897, 
and  about  the  church  a strip  of  land  132  feet  by  264  feet.  The  land  upon 
which  stands  the  house,  purchased  in  1897,  is  51  feet  by  120.  At  Greylock 
the  parish  land  measures  150  feet  by  150.  There  is  a parish  school  in  Wil- 
liamstown taught  by  two  lay  teachers,  who  are  responsible  for  the  proper 
training  in  elementary  English  and  French,  of  seventy  children. 

The  Canadian  people  of  Williamstown  and  Greylock  (Blackington)  stand 
well  in  the  community, — they  are  industrious  and  saving.  Some  are  in  busi- 
ness, while,  for  the  first  time  in  their  history,  one  of  their  number,  Edmund 
Noel,  now  holds  the  desirable  office  of  Town  Clerk. 

Father  Baudoin  was  born  in  Repentiguy,  Province  of  Quebec,  December 
2,  1854.  He  was  educated  at  the  College  of  the  Assumption,  in  his  native 
town,  and  was  ordained  to  the  priesthood  at  the  Grand  Seminary,  Montreal, 
December  20,  1879.  He  labored  at  Ware,  Fitchburg,  and  Indian  Orchard 
before  going  to  Williamstown.  Though  frail  in  health  he  has  been  always 
recognized  as  a zealous  and  tireless  worker  in  the  affairs  of  his  sacred  calling. 


HAMPDEN  COUNTY. 


ST.  BARTHOLOMEW’S  CHURCH, 

Bondsville. 

N December  8,  1878,  the  parish  of  Bondsville,  which  hitherto  had  been 
a mission  of  Palmer,  was  erected  with  Rev.  Daniel  Sullivan  as  the 
first  pastor.  He  said  his  first  pastoral  Mass  in  the  public  school 
house.  John  Sullivan,  Thomas  O’Conner  and  Timothy  Lyons,  who 
had  previously  expended  effort  and  zeal  in  the  parish  establishment,  were 
amongst  those  present  at  this  first  Mass.  Father  Sullivan  served  the  people 
but  four  months.  He  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Bartholomew  McKeany,  who 
has  labored  continuously  since  March  20,  1879.  When  Father  McKeany 
came  to  Bondsville  he  found  one  thousand  dollars  in  the  treasury.  The  base- 
ment of  the  church  had  already  been  built  by  Father  Lynch,  and  Father  Mc- 
Keany busied  himself  immediately  with  the  superstructure.  It  was  com- 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


65 


pleted  and  dedicated  by  Right  Rev.  Bishop  O’Reilly,  September  28,  1884. 
Rev.  Philip  Garrigan,  P.  R. , preached  the  sermon. 

There  were  eight  hundred  Irish  people  and  one  hundred  French  when 
Father  McKeany  took  possession  of  the  parish.  He  has  now  seven  hundred 
people  of  Irish  birth  or  lineage,  and  close  to  three  hundred  Poles.  The 
French  people  of  the  town  are  attended  by  Rev.  J.  Marchand,  pastor  of 
Three  Rivers.  From  the  formation  of  the  parish  to  January,  1898,  there  have 
been  683  baptisms,  180  marriages  and  one  conversion  from  Protestantism. 

Father  McKeany,  the  pastor,  is  gentle  and  kindly.  He  is  deeply  versed  in 
Egyptian  lore  and  has  traveled  Eastern  lands  repeatedly.  He  is  a shrewd  and 
careful  manager,  as  is  evinced  in  the  score  of  peaceful  years  which  he  has 
passed  with  his  people  and  which  have  served  to  mutually  endear  them. 
“Our  days  together,”  he  says  himself,  “ have  passed  as  placidly  and  as  fruit- 
fully in  blessing  as  the  flowing  of  the  Nile.” 

The  people  of  this  parish  are  a hard-working  folk.  Generally  speaking, 
their  social  position  has  not  improved  since  the  formation  of  the  parish, 
because  the  industries  of  the  town  whereby  they  earn  their  livelihood  have 
languished.  Some,  however,  are  well-to-do,  and  have  their  own  homes  ; 
while  several  make  respectable  livings  in  the  different  trades.  The  parish 
possesses  no  property  except  the  church. 


PARISH  OF  THE  HOEY  NAME  OF  JESUS, 

Chicopee. 

^ CHICOPEE,  so-called  in  the  Indian  tongue  from  its  “ River  of  Elms,” 
I was  until  1848  a part  of  Springfield,  and  was  known  as  Cabotville. 

^ It  has  now  (1898)  a population  close  to  eighteen  thousand.'  John 
Warner  Barber,  who  wrote  in  1829,  estimated  the  inhabitants  at 
two  thousand,  and  said  after  the  manner  of  his  day  and  kind:  “ There  are 
two  churches,  one  Congregational,  one  Universalist  and  a Baptist  church 
now  (1828)  erecting.”  Two  years  after  . this  Father  James  Fitton  conducted 
here  the  first  public  service  for  the  Roman  Catholic  people.  There  were  then 
thirty  people  present.  To-day  there  are  six  Catholic  parishes  worshiping  in 
seven  churches,  with  an  aggregate  number  of  10,884  souls,  thus  making  more 
than  three-fifths  of  the  total  population  of  the  city.  The  Methodists  of  the 
city  make  up  the  largest  count  in  the  Protestant  churches,  and  their  most 
ardent  and  influential  member,  the  judge  of  the  local  court,  says  that  465  is  a 
“liberal”  estimate  of  all  who  attend  their  three  churches.  Allowing  that 
one-fourth  of  our  people,  the  young,  the  infirm  and  the  aged  are  unable  to 
attend  Mass,  even  then  we  have  at  divine  service  each  Sunday  nigh  to  eigh- 
teen times  as  many  people  as  the  Methodists,  the  next  strongest  Christian 
denomination.  The  same  authority  estimates  all  the  Protestant  church-going 
people  at  2,500,  and  if  his  estimate,  “ rough  but  liberal  ” be  correct,  we  still 
have  past  three  and  one-fourth  times  as  many  worshipers  as  all  of  the  Pro- 
testant congregations  put  together. 


5 


* “ The  City  of  Chicopee,”  New  Eng.  Mag.,  May,  ’98,  p.  378. 


66 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Thomas  Brennan  and  his  wife  are  the  first  people  known  as  Catholics  to 
come  to  Chicopee.  They  came  in  1824.  Three  years  before  this  the  great 
water-power  of  the  Chicopee  had  attracted  the  attention  of  business  men,  and 
in  1829  three  mills  were  built  along  its  banks.  The  fourth  mill  was  built  in 
1830  by  John  Chase,  afterwards,  because  of  his  friendliness  to  the  Catholic 
people,  called  by  them  “ Uncle  John  Chase.”  In  1831  were  begun  the  build- 
ing of  the  dam  across  the  river,  the  digging  of  the  canals  and  the  erection  of 
the  shops  where  now  stands  the  Ames  plant.  To  assist  in  these  works  John 
Chase  is  said  to  have  brought  a body  of  Irishmen  from  New  York  as  early  as 
1829,  and  sixty  more  for  work  on  the  canal  in  1832.  They  began  to  come  in 
crowds  in  1832,  1833  and  1834,  as  opportunity  for  labor  was  offered  them  on  the 
mills,  the  canals  and  the  railroads.  Father  Fitton,  speaking  of  his  first  Mass 
in  Chicopee  and  the  place  of  its  celebration,  says  : “ The  boarding-house,  a 
temporary  building  which  stood  near  to  the  river  bank,  where  the  dam  is  now 
constructed, — the  only  building  in  the  place,  save  the  grist-mill  and  home  of 
the  miller, — served  for  chapel  and  all  other  purposes.” 

Sumner  Van  Horn,  writing  of  ” Chicopee  Years  Ago,”  in  the  Springfield 
Republican.,  February  18,  1885,  reports:  “ The  first  Catholic  meeting  held  in 
the  town  was  about  the  year  1832,  and  was  held  in  the  machine-shop  building 
that  stood  where  the  Ames  shops  now  are.  The  building  was  finished,  but 
the  machinery  had  not  been  moved  into  it  from  the  Falls.”  Mr.  Van  Horn  is 
wrong  in  considering  this  the  first  Catholic  service.  It  was  but  one  of  many 
that  occurred  between  1830  and  the  building  of  old  St.  Matthew’s  church  in 
1840,  either  in  the  “boarding-house,”  in  the  “homes  of  the  people,”  the 
“machine-shop,”  or  in  “Mechanics’  Hall,”  wherein  for  the  first  time,  in 

1838,  the  Catholics  of  Cabotville  were  formed  into  a congregation. 

Father  John  Brady,  of  Hartford,  had  their  care,  and  on  the  7th  of  July, 

1839,  through  him  Bishop  Fenwick  secured  a piece  of  laud  on  Pleasant  street, 
whereon  was  begun  the  erection  of  a brick  church,  whose  corner-stone  was 
laid  in  the  spring  of  the  next  year.  After  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  the 
parish  and  church  were  put  in  the  hands  of  the  Rev.  John  D.  Brady,  who  was 
cousin  to  Father  Brady,  of  Hartford,  and  who  came  to  Chicopee  from  Salem 
in  1841.  Father  Brady,  helped  by  Catholics  everywhere  throughout  western 
Massachusetts,  had  the  church  built  in  the  early  fall  of  1843.  On  the  29th 
day  of  September,  that  year,  it  was  dedicated  under  the  patronage  of  St. 
Matthew. 

The  next  year  Father  Brady  purchased  for  forty-five  dollars  two  acres  of 
land  from  Ruel  Van  Horn  for  a cemetery.  Before  this  the  Catholic  people  of 
the  neighboring  towns  were  buried  in  the  Cabotville  town  cemetery.  This 
will  account  for  the  great  number  of  Catholic  Irish  names  that  one  in  won- 
derment reads  to-day  on  the  headstones  in  that  old  cemetery.  Thenceforward 
the  Catholics  buried  in  their  own. 

Father  John  D.  Brady  was  born  in  County  Cavan,  Ireland,  made  his 
preparatory  course  in  Tipperary  and  his  higher  studies  at  Maynooth.  He 
went  to  France  with  other  young  Irishmen  to  prepare  for  the  priesthood. 
While  there  the  college  was  burned,  and  some  of  the  Irish  boys  in  a strange 


Rev.  P.  D STOKE.  \^  Rev.  P.  HEALY,  V.G. 


Rev.  IOHN  I.  McCOV,  P.  R. 


Rev.  F.  S.  CHALUPKA. 


Rev.  a.  DELPHOS. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


67 


land  without  money  sought  service  in  the  French  army.  Young  Brady 
returned  home  and  some  years  later  came  to  Boston,  was  there  ordained  by 
Bishop  Fenwick  in  1833  and  sent  on  duty  to  Salem.  From  Salem  he  came 
to  the  charge  of  Chicopee.  For  a while  he  lived  with  his  cousin,  Father  John 
Brady,  at  Hartford,  and  came  thence  at  stated  intervals  to  care  for  the  Chi- 
copee people.  The  similarity  of  name  and  identity  of  place  of  living  have 
given  rise  to  great  confusion  in  the  works  of  these  two  men. 

From  Father  Brady’s  coming  the  people  had  Mass  twice  each  month.  In 
1845  Rev.  Bernard  O’Cavanagh  came  as  his  assistant.  These  two  priests 
shared  between  them  the  care  of  all  the  Catholics  living  in  Hampden,  Hamp- 
shire, Franklin  and  Berkshire  counties.  In  cold  and  wet,  in  the  summer  heats 
and  the  depths  of  the  winter  snows,  from  village  to  village,  from  “ shanty  ” 
to  “shanty,”  and  from  “pit”  to  “ pit,”  by  stage,  on  foot,  in  the  saddle  or  by 
train  when  such  became  possible,  they  sought  the  sheep  of  the  Master’s  fold. 
When  on  these  missions  their  food  was  the  rough  fare  of  the  laborer,  and 
their  bed  oftentimes  one-half  of  his  blanket.  Nor  at  home  did  they  know 
luxury.  Two  rooms  in  the  basement  of  old  St.  Matthew’s  church  served  as 
reception-room,  dining-room  and  kitchen,  and  two  on  the  level  of  the  church 
floor  made  study  and  chamber. 

Everywhere  in  their  track  little  congregations  began  to  rise.  The  year 
before  Father  Brady  had  built  a church  in  Pittsfield  and  blessed  a cemetery 
for  the  Catholic  dead.  Afterwards  he  bought  a meeting  house  from  the  Pro- 
testants at  Greenfield,  moved  it  to  a lot  previously  purchased  and  fitted  it  for 
a church  for  his  people.  Wherever  funds  sufficient  were  lacking  for  a church 
or  land,  he  gathered  the  Catholics  into  private  houses,  or  into  halls,  or  unoc- 
cupied rooms  of  factories,  or  any  place  where  space  was  sufficient,  and,  by 
Mass,  by  word,  and  by  the  example  of  a self-sacrificing  life,  kept  warm  in 
their  hearts  the  fires  of  religion  that  God  had  enabled  them  to  bring  from  the 
old  land. 

John  G.  Shea,  writing  of  Catholicity  in  the  diocese  of  Boston  in  1844, 
which  then  embraced  the  States  of  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont  and 
Massachusetts,  makes  the  people  63,793  and  the  priests  30.  Western  Massa- 
chusetts, embracing  the  counties  of  Berkshire,  Hampden,  Hampshire  and 
Franklin,  then  made  the  parish  of  Cabotville,  and  had  only  Father  Brady 
to  answer  any  needful  call.  In  the  two  counties  of  Berkshire  and  Hampden 
alone  there  are  now  97,000  Catholic  people  and  eighty-three  priests,  making 
33)307  people  and  fifty-three  more  priests  than  were  then  in  all  the  States 
enumerated  above. 

In  October,  1847,  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Boston  called  his  priests 
to  a conference.  Father  Brady  attended.  On  the  morning  of  the  i8th  he  died 
while  making  thanksgiving  after  his  Mass.'  Thus  died  a great  pioneer  priest, 
who  has  never  received  adequate  credit  for  the  apostolic  labors  of  his  ministry. 

*J.  G.  Holland,  in  his  History  of  Western  Mass.,  V.  2,  p.  55,  says:  “ Rev.  John  D. 
Brady  commenced  his  labors  in  1846  and  continued  until  his  decease  in  October,  1848.” 
Doctor  Holland  is  wrong  in  both  dates.  He  came  in  1841  and  died  October  18,  1847. — 
Catholic  Almanac,  1848,  p.  266. 


68 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGEIELD. 


In  the  November  following,  Rev.  James  Strain  was  made  his  successor. 
He  renovated  the  church,  added  two  wings  and  put  in  galleries.  He  also 
built  a parochial  residence,  but  his  life  in  Chicopee  was  not  happy  very  long. 
Some  of  the  people  came  to  dislike  him.  He  was  of  hasty  temperament  and 
utterly  without  tact.  This  ill-feeling  grew  and  culminated  one  Sunday  in  a 
disgraceful  attack  made  upon  him  at  the  altar,  when  the  sacred  vestments 
were  torn  from  his  shoulders.  The  sacrilege  embittered  past  cure  the  rancor 
already  existing,  and  the  God-fearing  portion  of  the  people  were  distressed 
beyond  expression.  To  this  day  they  speak  of  that  morning  with  hushed 
voices.  This  was  the  period  of  the  awful  visitation  of  the  Asiatic  cholera, 
when  the  poor  Irish  people  here  and  at  Holyoke  were  stricken,  and  whole 
families  died  like  smitten  sheep.  After  two  years  of  service  Father  Strain 
was  replaced  by  Rev.  William  Blenkinsop. 

The  new  pastor  was  the  soul  of  priestliness.  He  came  and  was  obliged 
to  labor  in  the  very  heat  of  the  Know-Nothing  period,  but  so  strong  and 
kindly  a heart  had  he  that  he  soon  softened  the  enmities  existing  between 
neighbor  and  neighbor  and  between  Catholics  and  Protestants.  The  Catho- 
lics learned  to  love  him  deeply  and  all  the  world  trusted  him.  Old  residents 
of  Chicopee  of  every  denomination  now  speak  of  him  with  affectionate  famil- 
iarity as  “Father  William.”  He  was  energetic  as  well  as  gentle,  and  in  1852 
bought  land  for  a new  cemetery  close  to  the  old  one  of  Father  Brady.  In 
1854  the  Catholics  had  outgrown  the  capacity  of  St.  Matthew’s  church,  and 
Father  Blenkinsop,  seeing  the  approaching  need  of  a great  church,  bought 
two  acres  of  land  just  opposite  St.  Matthew’s,  and  began  planning  for  pres- 
bytery and  church  thereon.  He  built  both.  The  new  church,  120  by  70,  was 
of  Gothic  design  and  was  the  work  of  the  famous  architect,  Keeley.  In  1857 
the  corner-stone  of  this  church  was  laid,  and  the  dedication  of  the  same  under 
title  of  the  “Holy  Name  of  Jesus”  occurred  May  29,  1859.  The  cost  then 
was  $38,000.  The  officiating  prelate  was  Right  Rev.  John  B.  Fitzpatrick, 
while  Rev.  John  Boyce,  of  Worcester,  preached  the  dedication  sermon.  His 
theme  was  the  “ Infallibility  of  the  Church.”  This  doctrine  was  unpleasant 
in  Protestant  ears  and  it  awakened  criticism.  Moreover,  the  day  was  Sunday 
and  a brass  band  had  assisted  at  the  dedication  services.  The  disturbed 
neighbors  cried  out  against  the  sermon  and  the  desecration  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Sabbath,  and  for  a while  the  wheels  of  the  press  hereabout  were  kept 
hot  in  the  printing  of  complaints.  In  1864  Father  Blenkinsop  was  called  to 
South  Boston.  While  pastor  of  Chicopee  he  had  charge  of  Holyoke,  Green- 
field, Amherst,  Ware,  Westfield,  Three  Rivers,  Thorndike,  Monson,  Palmer, 
Indian  Orchard,  and  for  a period  after  the  going  of  Father  Doherty,  Spring- 
field.  On  account  of  the  long  journeys  over  this  vast  territory,  Chicopee  had 
him  for  Mass  but  once  in  the  month. 

To  succeed  him  came  the  Rev.  Patrick  Healy,  who  had  been  the  pastor 
at  Ware.  When  he  came  the  parish  had  a debt  of  $13,000,  all  of  this  save 
$2,000  he  cleared  in  a great  fair,  held  shortly  after  his  coming.  He  was  the 
pioneer  of  parochial  school  education  in  this  diocese.  Three  years  after  his 
coming  he  built  the  convent  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Mar>',  and  called  thereto 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


69 


four  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame  to  take  the  charge  of  St.  Joseph’s  school  for 
girls.  They  were  Sisters  Mary  Albanie,  Mary  Rosa,  Felicitas  and  Magdalen 
of  St.  Joseph.  Sister  Mary  Albanie  was  the  Superior.  Father  Healy  met 
them  at  Springfield,  and  had  them  driven  in  a hack  to  Chicopee.  The  peo- 
ple of  the  parish  were  gathered  in  the  church  to  greet  them,  and  in  the  mid- 
dle aisle  stood  three  hundred  children  dressed  in  white,  who  commenced  at 
the  entrance  of  the  Sisters  the  chanting  of  the  Litany  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
and  the  singing  of  hymns  of  praise  to  God.  These  concluded,  one  of  their 
number.  Miss  Sarah  Bowe,  welcomed  the  Sisters,  saying  : “ Permit  me,  dear 
Sisters,  on  behalf  of  my  youthful  companions  who  have  chosen  me  to 
represent  them  on  this  joyful  occasion,  to  offer  you  from  our  hearts  a most 
sincere  and  cordial  welcome  to  your  new  home.  You  come  to  devote  your 
lives  to  us,  and  we  trust  that  in  all  our ‘actions  nothing  may  ever  occur  to 
cause  you  any  regret.  We  beg  God,  dear  Sisters,  to  bless  and  strengthen 
your  charitable  undertaking,  and  we  sincerely  hope  that  we  may  ever 
bless  this  day  when  we  for  the  first  time  become  your  obedient  and  devoted 
children.” 

August  22,  Father  Healy  brought  the  Blessed  Sacrament  to  the  convent, 
and  community  life  in  earnest  began.  On  the  24th,  he  said  the  first  Mass 
therein.  The  2d  of  September  following,  the  first  school  was  opened  in  the 
side  chapel  of  the  church.  There  were  200  girls  in  attendance.  October  15, 
Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Williams  of  Boston,  dedicated  the  convent  chapel  and  school- 
house,  which  latter  at  the  Sisters’  coming  was  yet  unfinished.  November 
21,  Father  Healy  said  Mass  in  the  school-house  now  completed.  A day  or 
two  afterwards  the  sisters  were  surprised  by  a friendly  visit  from  three 
Shakers,  a brother  and  two  sisters,  from  a Shaker  village  down  the  river,  who 
showed  kindly  interest  in  the  new  community.  In  December,  that  year,  the 
school  had  300  scholars.  The  sisters  had  ready  for  the  sacraments  140  adults, 
and  86  children  for  First  Communion.  On  January  4,  1868,  the  parish 
opened  an  evening  school  under  the  tutelage  of  the  sisters.  The  April  fol- 
lowing the  sisters  for  the  first  time  took  charge  of  the  boys’  Sunday-school. 
Before  the  end  of  1868,  the  parochial  schools  had  400  scholars,  and  the  evening 
school,  124.  That  year  Father  Healy  bought  the  new  cemetery  of  twenty- 
five  acres;  the  June  following,  he  announced  to  the  people  that  the  whole 
church  property  was  free  of  debt.  On  the  28th  day  of  that  month,  the 
church,  the  second  in  the  diocese,  was  consecrated  by  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Wil- 
liams. Three  years  later  was  built  the  chapel  on  the  east  side  of  the  church, 
and  at  the  same  time  a story  was  added  to  the  presbytery.  In  1874,  Father 
Healy  put  into  the  church  its  grand  organ.  He  bought  in  1881  one  and 
one-half  acres  of  land  and  built  thereon  the  boys’  school  and  the  monastery 
for  the  Brothers.  Before  this  the  parish  had  a school  for  boys  under  lay  tui- 
tion. Among  those  teaching  were  Mr.  Fox,  now  a member  of  the  British 
Parliament,  Dr.  Keyes,  now  in  the  West,  Eugene  Sullivan,  Ellen  Pendergast, 
Ellen  Houlihan,  Margaret  Hogan,  Anna  Blanchfield,  and  several  others  who 
served  for  short  periods.  Two  Christian  Brothers,  Alfred  and  Colmas,  came 
into  the  care  of  220  boys.  The  parish  schools  to-day  have  upwards  of  550 


70 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


scholars,  boys  and  girls,  under  the  tutelage  of  five  Christian  Brothers  and 
fourteen  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame. 

Six  years  afterwards  the  church  was  endangered  by  decaying  pillars. 
Father  Healy  replaced  them  with  sound  material  and  made  the  whole  struc- 
ture firm  again.  Next  he  built  two  marble  side  altars  therein,  and  had  the 
whole  interior  freshly  decorated. 

In  addition  to  the  care  of  Chicopee,  Father  Healy  looked  to  the  interests 
of  Mittineague,  Indian  Orchard,  South  Hadley  Falls,  Chicopee  Falls,  Mon- 
son,  and  from  Father  Gallagher’s  death  to  the  conseeration  of  Bishop  O’Reilly, 
to  the  pastoral  charge  of  Springfield.  He  built  churches  at  Monson,  Chico- 
pee Falls,  Mittineague  and  Indian  Orchard.  Bishop  O’Reilly  at  his  conse- 
cration made  him  Vicar  General  of  the  western  end  of  the  diocese.  And  this 
entailed  new  duties  and  heavier  obligations. 

Worn  by  the  consuming  labors  of  his  pastoral  life,  and  harassed  and  hec- 
tored by  some  of  his  own  people  whom  in  his  hot  zeal  he  had  offended,  and 
who  were  urged  on  to  attack  him  by  a skilled  lawyer  whose  motive  may  be 
found  in  his  reported  saying:  “Oh!  if  I only  get  my  hand  in  that  nest,”  Fa- 
ther Healy  in  1888  began  to  break  down  in  health.  The  Sunday  before  he 
died,  he  said  from  his  pulpit,  “ My  dear  people,  all  the  parish  debts  are  paid; 
the  societies  have  helped ; nothing  remains  to  burden  you.  Kneel  down,  and 
I’ll  give  you  my  blessing.”  To  many  who  understood  him  it  looked  that 
day  as  if  his  work  was  done.  That  night  he  was  taken  ill,  and  he  was  never 
well  again.  He  died  of  apoplexy,  January  22d,  1889,  and  priests  and  people 
deeply  mourned  him.  One  hundred  and  fifty  priests  came  to  his  funeral  with 
Archbishop  Williams,  Bishops  O’Reilly  and  McMahon  at  their  head.  In 
token  of  respect  all  the  stores  of  Chicopee  were  closed,  and  agent  Cummnock 
ordered  the  mills  shut  down  all  the  day  of  the  funeral.  He  was  put  sleeping 
in  the  open  between  school  and  church,  where  every  day  the  first  shadows  of 
the  one  and  the  latest  of  the  other  fall  lightly  on  his  head.  A loving  people 
have  fitly  marked  his  sleeping  place  by  rearing  there  to  his  memory  a magni- 
cent  Celtic  cross. 

Father  Healy  was  a man  of  magnificent  proportions,  tall,  and  strong,  and 
severely  handsome.  He  was  headstrong  and  impetuous,  of  controlling  even 
appalling  force,  and  when  aroused  a “ leo  rugiens  ” in  whose  path  no  man 
cared  to  wait.  Yet  with  the  poor,  the  weak,  and  with  the  distressed  he  was 
as  gentle  as  the  mother  who  breasts  her  babe.  He  could  any  time  be  melted 
to  tears  at  a tale  of  grief  To  his  church  he  was  as  entirely  devoted  and  to 
his  own  interests  as  forgetful  as  any  man  that  ever  lived.  He  feared  God  if 
he  did  not  man,  and  when  he  went  to  God  after  years  of  service  wherein  the 
revenues  were  plentiful  he  was  nearly  in  absolute  poverty.  Neither  he  nor 
' his  parish,  however,  owed  any  man  a penny.  The  day  he  died.  Miss  Pen- 
dergast,  a teacher  in  his  school,  at  his  bidding,  paid  seventy-five  cents  due 
for  brooms  which  were  used  in  the  school,  and  this  was  the  last  account  that 
earth  ever  saw  written  up  against  Patrick  Healy’s  name.  His  life  was  given 
to  God  and  his  means  to  God’s  church. 

It  were  hardly  possible  to  speak  of  Father  Healy  and  his  work  without 


CHURCH  OF  THE  HOLY  NAME  OF  JESUS, 
Chicopee,  Mass. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


71 


recalling  to  all  who  knew  him,  the  “little  snperior,”  Sister  Mary  Albanie, 
who  came  the  first  days  the  Sisters  came  and  for  twenty-three  years  kept 
equal  pace  by  his  side  in  all  the  works  done  for  God  in  the  parish;  and  who, 
if  grateful  hearts  speak  the  truth,  though  in  poverty  herself,  from  her  mite  fed 
and  clothed  whole  families.  The  general  estimation  of  her  is  found  in  the 
words  of  an  aged  and  respectable  lady  of  the  parish,  spoken  to  the  present 
superior,  Sister  Imelda  of  the  Sacred  Heart:  “The  good  old  Superior  took 
care  of  my  small  children  while  I worked  in  the  mill.  This  was  done,  sister 
dear,  that  the  eldest,  Katie,  might  attend  school.  She  would  do  anything 
for  the  love  of  God.” 

Rev.  Patrick  Healy  was  born  at  Drumgooly,  county  Kilkenny,  Ireland, 
in  1825.  His  education  was  obtained  at  Waterford  University  and  St.  John’s 
college  of  the  same  place,  where  he  was  ordained  in  1854.  He  came  to  this 
country  almost  immediately  and  was  assigned  by  the  late  Bishop  Fitzpatrick 
of  Boston  as  assistant  at  old  St.  James’  church  on  Albany  street.  He  was 
soon  transferred  to  East  Boston  as  assistant  to  the  late  Rev.  James  Fitton, 
and  went  thence  to  Ware,  over  which  parish  he  remained  until  appointed  in 
1864  to  Chicopee  as  successor  to  Rev.  William  Blenkinsop. 

The  parish  of  the  Holy  Name  was  made  a permanent  rectorship  during 
the  incumbency  of  Father  Healy,  and  was,  therefore,  open  to  all  who  pos- 
sessed the  canonical  requirements,  and  who  desired  to  enter  the  examinations. 
Rev.  Doctor  Henry  L-  Robinson,  pastor  of  Uxbridge,  was  the  successful  com- 
petitor, and  came  to  Chicopee  as  pastor  May  7,  1889.  He  was  “inducted’’ 
with  great  public  ceremony  the  12th  of  the  same  month  by  Right  Rev. 
Bishop  O’Reilly.  Rev.  Dr.  Robinson  was  born  in  Chicopee  Falls,  in  1837, 
of  Protestant  parents,  his  father  and  mother  being  members  of  the  Second 
Congregational  church.  His  father  died  when  he  was  a boy,  and  he  helped 
to  support  his  mother  by  working  in  a dry-goods  store.  He  was  intended  for 
the  Protestant  ministry,  and  went  to  college  in  the  South  to  study  for  Epis- 
copal orders.  He  was  an  earnest  student,  and  his  mind  was  awakened  to  the 
many  contradictory  tenets  of  Protestantism.  He  sought  the  truth,  and  for 
this  purpose  entered  a Catholic  college  in  New  Orleans.  He  was  baptized 
by  Archbishop  Henni,  of  Milwaukee.  Bishop  Fitzpatrick,  of  Boston,  sent 
him  to  the  Grand  Seminary  at  Montreal  for  a course  in  theology.  This  fin- 
ished, he  was  ordained  by  Bishop  McFarland,  of  Hartford,  in  the  church  of 
the  Immaculate  Conception,  at  Boston,  on  the  feast  of  St.  John  the  Baptist, 
June  24,  1865.  Immediately  after  ordination,  he  was  appointed  curate  to 
Father  Williams,  now  the  Archbishop  of  Boston,  who  was  then  the  pastor  of 
St.  James’  church,  that  city.  After  three  years  work  he  was  made  pastor  of 
Greenfield,  where  he  labored  for  three  years  more.  Thence  he  went  to  Ux- 
bridge. Uxbridge  and  Whitinsville  knew  his  services  for  seventeen  years, 
when  at  the  death  of  Vicar-General  Healy  he  came  here.  In  this  pastorate 
he  remodelled  the  presbytery,  repaired  the  exterior  walls  of  the  clerestory, 
and  put  in  a steam  plant  to  heat  all  the  buildings,  and  hung  in  the  tower  a 
sweet-toned  bell  of  two  tons.  For  a year  before  his  death  he  had  been 
ailing,  but  kept  up  with  brave  heart  until  the  end.  He  died  of  heart  failure 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


on  the  evening  of  July  2,  1894,  and  was  succeeded  on  the  13th  of  the  Angust 
following  by  Rev.  John  J.  McCoy,  the  present  rector.  Rev.  Dr.  Robinson  was 
a man  of  warm  heart,  though  somewhat  hasty  and  easily  drawn  into  quarrel. 
He  never  quite  understood  the  Irish  people,  who,  in  turn,  never  as  a body 
warmed  to  him.  But  the  priests  who  follow  him  have  learned  of  a hundred 
charities  and  kindly  deeds  done  the  poor,  of  which  the  world  at  large  never 
heard.  They  have  evidence,  too,  that  he  was  a man  of  the  tenderest  piety, 
and  this  found  expression  in  a marvellous  devotion  to  the  Sacrament  of  the 
Altar.  He  found  the  parish  free  of  debt  when  he  came,  and  the  changes  he 
inaugurated  entailed  a heavy  debt.  By  will,  at  his  death,  he  cleared  this  all 
away,  and  left  the  parish  as  he  found  it,  unencumbered. 

Rev.  John  J.  McCoy,  the  present  rector,  was  born  at  Tariffville,  Conn., 
November  29,  1853.  When  a year  old  he  was  taken  by  his  parents  to  Holy- 
oke. He  made  his  classics  at  Holy  Cross  College,  where  he  graduated  in  June, 
1876.  He  studied  theology  in  the  Grand  Seminary,  of  Montreal,  and  was  there 
ordained  by  Bishop  Fabre  in  December,  1879.  He  was  assigned  as  curate  at 
St.John’s  church,  Worcester,  where  he  labored  near  to  eight  years,  when  he 
was  made  pastor  at  Westboro,  February  3,  1887.  Westboro  knew  his  labors 
till  called  to  succeed  Dr.  Robinson  as  rector  of  the  church  of  the  Holy  Name. 

Chicopee  records  show  9466  baptisms,  3214  marriages,  and  75  conversions 
from  the  beginning  to  January,  1899. 

The  curates  have  been:  Bernard  O’Cavanaugh,  from  October,  1845,  to 
December,  1848;  R.  J.  Dawrence,  November,  1853,  to  July,  1854;  Joseph 
McPhilips,  from  April,  1866,  to  August,  1867;  Patrick  McManus,  September, 
1867,  to  October,  1870;  M.  E.  Barry,  November,  1869,  to  August,  1870 ; 
Michael  Welsh,  November,  1870,  to  October,  1871;  P.  D.  Stone,  January, 
1871,  to  January,  1873  ; Charles  E.  Burke,  from  June  till  August,  1872  ; James 
Foley,  from  August,  1872,  to  September,  1873;  John  B.  Daly,  from  May,  1873, 
till  December,  1874;  James  Donohue,  from  January  to  June,  1875  ; D.  F. 
McGrath,  June,  1875,  to  August,  1878;  John  H.  Murphy,  August,  1878,  to 
July,  1882  ; J.  Norris,  August,  1882,  till  April,  1885  ; Richard  Healy,  March, 
1885,  to  August,  1888;  J.  H.  McKechnie,  September,  1888,  to  May,  1889; 
Alfred  E.  Langevine,  May,  1889,  to  June,  1891  ; E.  E.  Barry,  March,  1892,  to 
October,  1894;  E.  J.  Fitzgerald,  November,  1894,  to  January,  1899;  W.  A. 
Gilfillan,  January,  1 899,  and  yet  in  service. 

The  people  of  Chicopee,  in  the  whole  history  of  Catholicity  in  western 
Massachusetts,  have  been  a people  marked  as  especially  zealous  and  self- 
sacrificing  for  the  things  of  faith.  Their  church  property  is  considered  as 
complete  as  any  in  the  land.  The  famous  ecclesiastic.  Very  Rev.  John  J. 
Hogan,  D.  D.,  S.  S.,  who  knows  as  well  as  any  man  the  parishes  on  both  sides 
of  the  Atlantic,  has  described  the  church  property  in  the  parish  of  the  Holy 
Name  as  being  “as  fine  a parish  property  as  I have  seen  anywhere  in  the 
world.”  The  Bishop’s  measure  of  the  people  may  be  gauged  by  his  words  of 
greeting  when  Father  McCoy  was  appointed  to  the  rectorship  : “You  have, 
Father  John,  the  best-hearted  people  in  the  Connecticut  valley.”  The  parish 
has  upwards  of  twenty-four  hundred  souls. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


73 


Our  people,  who  are  of  Irish  blood,  are  in  everything,  save  in  wealth, 
the  equal  of  any  other  people  in  the  city.  They  have  held  and  hold  her  high- 
est offices.  Dr.  W.  M.  E.  Mellen  was  the  mayor  in  1894,  and  this  year  (1899) 
Dennis  Murphy  honors  the  chair.  Our  young  people  are  in  the  learned  pro- 
fessions, clergymen,  physicians,  lawyers  and  teachers.  Here,  as  in  Holyoke, 
we  are  the  builders  and  contractors,  while  the  majority  of  our  young  working 
people  are  skilled  mechanics  in  iron,  stone  and  in  the  materials  that  concern 
the  ordinary  trades. 

ST.  PATRICK’S  CHURCH, 

Chicopee  Falls. 

(5  I HE  first  Mass  said  in  Chicopee  Falls  in  what  is  now  the  parish  of  St. 

^ I Patrick  was  said  by  Rev.  Patrick  Stone,  on  the  day  of  the  church’s 
dedication.  Before  this  the  people  were  obliged  to  walk  for  Mass  a 
distance  of  two  miles  to  the  Holy  Name  church  in  Chicopee.  Some  time 
before  1850  Rev.  J.  Strain,  then  pastor  of  Chicopee,  established  at  the  Falls  a 
Sunday-school  for  the  children.  This  continued  till  1870.  About  this  time 
Rev.  Patrick  Stone  came  to  Chicopee  as  assistant  to  the  Vicar-General  Father 
Healy.  He,  with  Father  Michael  Walsh,  assisted  Father  Healy  in  the  care 
of  Chicopee,  Chicopee  Falls  and  Indian  Orchard.  For  two  years  Father 
Healy  directed  Father  Stone  in  the  gathering  of  funds  for  the  building  of  a 
church  in  the  Falls.  The  Vicar-General  had  intended  the  Rev.  Father  Walsh, 
who  was  Father  Stone’s  senior  in  service  for  the  pastorate  of  the  new  church  ; 
but  Father  Henr>^  M.  Smyth  dying  at  North  Brookfield  just  at  this  time.  Father 
Walsh  was  given  his  place.  Father  Stone  therefore  was  the  logical  candidate, 
and  when  the  new  church  was  built  and  dedicated  under  the  patronage  of  St. 
Patrick,  December  15,  1872,  Father  Stone,  to  the  great  delight  of  the  people 
of  the  Falls,  was  made  the  resident  pastor. 

The  church  of  St.  Patrick  was  dedicated  by  Rt.  Rev.  John  J.  Williams, 
Archbishop  of  Boston,  while  the  scholarly  Bishop  Lynch,  of  Charleston,  S. 
C.,  preached  the  sermon.  That  same  year  was  erected  under  Father  Stone’s 
direction,  and  before  the  dedication  of  the  church,  a parish  rectory  which  now 
makes  a convent  home  for  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph. 

When  Father  Stone  became  pastor  there  were  $22,000  debt  on  the  parish, 
and  about  $14,000  more  had  already  been  expended  in  parish  work.  Seven 
years  thereafter  the  parish  debt  was  but  $4,500.  In  the  spring  of  1873  Father 
Stone  purchased  for  cemetery  purposes  twenty-two  acres  of  land.  The  years 
have  proved  the  excellence  of  his  judgment  in  this;  for  he  has  now,  when 
land  about  has  become  very  valuable,  a large  and  well-situated  cemetery  at 
an  exceedingly  small  cost  to  the  parish.  In  1880,  counting  in  even  the  pur- 
chase of  a new  cemetery,  the  whole  parish  debt  was  but  $6,000,  and  Father 
Stone  felt  it  safe  to  satisfy  a hope  which  he  had  cherished  for  years.  He 
would  build  parish  schools  for  his  children.  With  this  purpose  in  view  he 
bought  that  year  for  $1,500  the  fine  property  on  Columba  street,  and  in  the 
following  year  erected  thereon  a new  rectory  and  the  parish  schools  at  a cost 
of  $16  500.  Seven  Sisters  of  the  order  of  St.  Joseph  came  to  the  charge  of 


74 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


the  people,  with  Sister  Cecilia  as  superior.  She  died  ten  years  afterwards  in 
Springfield,  the  Mother-General  of  her  Order  in  this  diocese.  Sister  Cecilia’s 
influence  for  good  upon  the  schools  and  upon  the  people  of  the  parish  from 
the  day  of  her  coming  until  her  going  was  marvelous.  She  is  held  in  the 
kindliest  memory  yet.  This  was  the  first  coming  to  the  diocese  of  Spring- 
field  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  who  have  since  been  given  the  care  of  schools 
in  Holyoke,  North  Adams,  Northampton,  Southbridge,  Webster  and  Pitts- 
'field.  The  school  has  nine  grades.  It  has  a high  reputation  with  educators 
in  this  neighborhood. 

In  1890  Father  Stone  renovated  the  entire  parish  property,  but  especially 
the  church.  He  made  it  practically  a new  church,  and  in  1897  he  supple- 
mented this  work  by  the  purchase  of  an  excellent  organ  at  a cost  of  $4,000. 
It  was  made  by  Hutchings’  Organ  Company  of  Boston.  To  receive  it  becom- 
ingly the  choir  loft  had  to  be  enlarged.  The  great  organ  has  427  pipes,  the 
swell  organ  537,  and  the  pedal  organ  60.  Tliese  repairs,  changes  and  new 
purchases  cost  in  the  neighborhood  of  $14,000.  There  was  on  the  church  in 
August,  1898,  however,  an  indebtedness  but  a little  over  $9,000. 

The  assistant  priests  of  this  parish  have  been  Rev.  Michael  J.  Murphy,  from 
1874  till  the  coming  of  Rev.  Martin  Murphy  in  1884  ; Rev.  James  McLaugh- 
lin, from  February,  1886,  till  replaced  by  Rev.  Richard  Healy  in  October, 
1889.  Rev.  John  J.  O’Malley,  who  is  still  the  assistant,  came  to  St.  Patrick’s 
January  i,  1894. 

Since  the  opening  of  the  parish  records  in  1872,  St.  Patrick’s  church  has 
had  1,771  baptisms,  438  marriages  and  135  conversions.  There  are  1,814 
souls  in  its  lines. 

Father  Stone,  the  present  rector,  after  twenty-seven  years  of  labor  is  yet 
strong  and  fresh-hearted.  He  was  born  in  Dournane,  County  Kilkenny,  Ire- 
land, in  1844,  a^nd  educated  in  the  Christian  Brothers’  school  at  Mt.  Sion, 
Waterford,  thence  he  came  to  St.  Kierans,  Kilkenny.  He  completed  his 
theological  studies  at  St.  John’s  College,  Waterford.  He  was  ordained  to  the 
priesthood  by  Bishop  Walsh  of  London,  Ontario  (afterwards  Archbishop  of 
Toronto),  November  4,  1868.  For  two  years  he  was  secretary  to  the  Bishop, 
then  in  1870  he  came  to  the  diocese  of  Springfield,  and  was  immediately  made 
assistant  to  Rev.  Father  Healy,  the  Vicar-General. 

Father  Stone  is  a man  of  gentle  and  scholarly  taste.  He  is  fond  of  books 
and  pictures  and  flowers  and  vines  and  trees.  His  knowledge  of  all  these  is 
as  deep  as  his  love.  He  is  very  close  to  the  hearts  of  his  people,  they  are  all 
the  world  to  him,  and  the  years  as  they  come  are  but  making  tenderer  the 
mutual  ties  that  bind  pastor  and  people. 

His  congregation  is  made  up,  like  the  neighboring  congregations,  of 
working  people.  The  young  have  had  excellent  opportunities  for  education, 
and  in  most  instances  have  made  good  use  of  them.  There  is  noticeably  an 
absence  of  religious  bigotry  between  the  Catholics  and  their  neighbors  in  the 
Falls,  and  therefore  many  members  of  this  parish  have  held  and  yet  hold 
high  civic  ofiice. 

The  first  Catholic  known  to  become  a resident  of  Chicopee  was  Tom 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


75 


Brennan,  who  came  with  his  wife  to  the  Falls  in  1825.  He  was  brought  by 
an  agent  of  the  Chicopee  Company,  and  for  years  “the  big  Irishman”  was 
an  object  of  great  curiosity  to  the  natives,  young  and  old.  With  the  building 
of  the  canals  other  Irishmen  came,  some  to  live  at  the  Falls,  but  the  majority 
at  the  Centre.  At  the  Falls  they  flocked  in  such  numbers  on  the  Cooley 
estate  as  to  give  the  place  the  name  of  the  “ Cooley  huddle.”  Of  the  first 
Irish  settlers,  besides  Thomas  Brennan  and  wife,  there  were  the  families  of 
the  Mahoneys,  Malleys,  Buckleys,  Sullivans,  Kilbrides,  Mannings,  John  Mc- 
Killop,  Michael  Bohen,  Henry  Moriarity,  John  Maley,  Thomas  Nelligan,  the 
Haggertys,  Thomas  Dunn  and  Daniel  Shea.  Thomas  Scanlan  built  a house 
on  Montgomery  street  in  1850.  In  1849  the  new  dam  at  Holyoke  was  built, 
and  in  that  year  came  the  dreadful  scourge  of  the  cholera.  Many  Irish  came 
to  Chicopee  and  Holyoke  to  work  upon  the  canal  or  dam.  They  died  in 
hundreds.  It  is  a singular  fact  that  the  cholera  never  came  to  the  Falls. 

The  people  spoke  Irish  almost  entirely.  Father  Mangan,  an  Irish  priest 
from  Doneraille,  in  Cork,  came  to  Chicopee  in  1855,  preached  in  Irish  to 
the  people  in  the  Falls.  He  afterwards  lived  at  Hartford,  and  subsequently 
at  Winsted,  Conn.  The  poor  people  used  to  travel  from  the  Falls  to  Hart- 
ford, and  afterwards  to  Winsted,  making  a journey  of  two  days  and  a night 
to  make  confession  in  their  native  tongue.  At  this  time  some  of  the  over- 
zealous  Protestants  led  by  their  ministers  gave  expression  to  their  zeal  by 
bringing  to  the  Falls  a man  named  Jordan,  who  was  a clraplain  of  the  county 
jail  in  Springfield.  He  spoke  Irish,  and  it  was  thought  if  he  preached  to  the 
people  in  their  native  tongue  they  could  be  won  over.  The  poor  Irish  people 
were  offended.  They  closed  their  blinds  and  doors  as  well  as  their  hearts  and 
ears,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jordan  spoke  at  Cooley  huddle  to  a handful  of  thought- 
less children  who  came  to  see  him  as  they  would  any  other  strange  being. 
Not  an  adult  showed  his  face.  One  experience  was  enough.  Mr.  Jordan  could 
spare  thenceforward  for  the  jail  the  efibrts  wasted  on  the  Irish  at  the  Falls. 

CHURCH  OF  THE  ASSUMPTION, 

Chicopee. 

(5  I HE  church  of  the  Assumption  at  Chicopee  holds  within  its  walls  the 
^ I French-speaking  people  of  Canadian  origin  in  the  “ Center.”  Twenty- 
three  years  has  it  known  parish  life.  It  had  been  a mission  of  Father 
Dufresne,  pastor  of  the  Precious  Blood  in  Holyoke  ; afterwards  it  knew  the 
service  of  Father  Landry,  pastor  of  the  Canadians  at  Indian  Orchard,  and 
subsequently  the  successor  of  Father  Dufresne  at  Holyoke.  The  first  resi- 
dent pastor  was  Rev.  Everest  Pelletier,  who  was  appointed  in  1885,  and  ruled 
the  destinies  of  the  parish  until  his  death  in  May,  1893.  Father  Pelletier  was 
born  in  the  Province  of  Quebec,  Canada,  May  26,  1848.  He  attended  the 
Christian  Brothers’  school  till  twelve  years  of  age,  then  entered  the  College  of 
Nicolet,  where  he  was  graduated  at  the  age  of  twenty.  He  studied  medicine 
two  years,  and  it  was  while  pursuing  medical  studies  he  became  a corporal  of 
the  Papal  Zouaves.  After  the  fall  of  Rome  he  returned  to  Canada,  studied  the- 
ology at  Nicolet,  and  was  ordained  to  the  priesthood  by  Bishop  Lafleche,  of 


TO 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Three  Rivers.  For  two  years  he  labored  in  the  northwest  of  Canada,  then 
was  made  pastor  of  St.  Perpetua,  Canada,  for  a year.  He  came  as  assistant  to 
the  Notre  Dame  church,  Worcester,  where  he  served  two  years,  then  at  Ware 
for  two  more.  He  was  made  the  pastor  of  Mittineague  in  1883,  with  East  and 
West  Longmeadow  as  missions.  Two  years  afterwards,  1885,  he  was  made 
the  first  resident  pastor  of  the  Canadians  of  Chicopee.  He  remained  here 
until  his  death  in  1893.  He  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Frederick  Bonneville, 
who  was  born  at  St.  Lambert,  near  Montreal,  of  a French-Canadian  father 
and  an  American  mother.  He  studied  under  the  Sulpician  fathers  for  twelve 
years,  and  was  ordained  to  the  priesthood  July  31,  1887.  He  was  assistant  at 
Holyoke  for  two  years  after  his  ordination,  then  for  six  months  was  curate  to 
Father  Pelletier  at  Chicopee.  He  was  the  rector  of  the  Canadian  parish  at 
Mittineagpie  from  1890  to  1893,  and  came,  on  the  death  of  Father  Pelletier, 
to  replace  him  at  Chicopee.  Since  his  coming  he  has  remodelled  the  parish 
church,  a frame  structure,  put  in  a new  altar,  statues,  stations  of  the  cross,  a 
church  organ,  and  made  a comfortable  rectory  from  the  old  building  which  he 
found  at  his  coming,  and  which  had  served  as  a home  for  Father  Pelletier. 
This  had  been  the  original  parish  chapel  built  by  Father  Landry.  The  parish 
property  is  estimated  in  value  at  525,000.  There  is  a church,  a presbytery,  a 
stable  and  eight  acres  of  land. 

This  parish  has  now  (1898)  1,800  souls.  It  has  had  1,542  baptisms,  378 
marriages,  and  a few  conversions.  The  people  are  hard-working  and  thrifty. 
They  do  not  appear  to  be  as  ambitious  for  the  education  of  their  children, 
however,  as  their  neighbors  of  Irish  origin.  Several  of  them  have  succeeded 
in  making  homes  and  gathering  up  small  properties.  Many  of  the  men  are 
skilled  workers  in  wood,  and  in  brass,  and  in  iron,  while  some  few  are  builders 
and  contractors.  Formerly  the  wage-earners  amongst  the  women  worked  in 
the  factories ; now  but  a few  labor  there ; the  rest  are  milliners,  dressmakers, 
or  employed  in  the  ordinary  feminine  trades. 


ST.  STANISLAUS’  PARISH, 

Chicopee. 

NE  day  about  1880  some  poor  people  of  strange  tongue,  attire  and  man- 
ner were  lost  in  the  depot  in  Springfield.  They  had  alighted  from 
the  train,  having  left  their  tickets  in  their  seats,  and  when  the  train 
moved  out  they  were  unable  to  tell  any  body  whence  they  came  or 
whither  they  desired  to  go.  They  stayed  about,  lamenting,  the  whole  day 
long.  Towards  evening  Rev.  Patrick  Healy,  rector  of  the  church  of  the  Holy 
Name,  Chicopee,  entered  the  station.  Instantly  the  strangers  recognized  the 
priest,  and  running  to  him,  with  glad  cry,  kissed  his  hand,  rapturously.  The 
kindly  priest,  seeing  their  distress,  took  them  to  Chicopee,  found  them  a 
home  and  work.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  Poles  in  Chicopee. 

They  began  to  come  in  great  bodies,  so  that  in  1891  they  were  sufficiently 
numerous  to  build  a church,  the  corner-stone  of  which  they  had  laid  in  the 
early  fall  of  the  same  year.  Right  Rev.  Bishop  O’Reilly  performed  the  cere- 
mony, and  Rev.  Thomas  D.  Beaven,  of  Holyoke,  preached  the  sermon  in 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


77 


English,  while  Rev.  Father  Klinecki  pleached  in  Polish.  The  first  Mass  was 
said  at  midnight,  Christmas  eve  by  Father  Chalupka,  ot  Webster.  The  Mass 
was  over  at  1.30  A.  m.,  and  the  priest  drove  from  the  church  to  Springfield  to 
catch  the  3.15  train  to  Worcester.  After  a long  and  dreary  wait  in  the 
Worcester  depot,  he  was  enabled  to  meet  the  train  to  Webster,  where  he  said 
Masses  at  eight  and  half-past  ten  o’clock  for  the  Poles  of  St.  Joseph’s  parish. 
The  midnight  Mass  was  said  in  the  unfinished  building.  It  was  not  com- 
pleted till  the  fall  of  1895,  when,  on  Rosary  Sunday  in  October,  Bishop  Beaven 
dedicated  it  to  the  service  of  God,  and  Father  Laczynski  preached  the  sermon. 

The  organization  of  the  Polish  congregation  had  been  entrusted  to  Rev. 
Francis  S.  Chalupka  by  Bishop  O’Reilly  in  1890.  In  the  latter  half  of  1890 
and  the  early  half  of  1891  the  priest  took  a census  of  the  people  and  gathered 
money  for  the  churcli.  He  was  able  that  year  to  buy  from  Maurice  Granfield, 
for  $2,000,  the  laud  whereon  the  church  is  now  built.  The  church  cost,  when 
completed,  $17,000.  The  people  as  yet  had  no  resident  pastor,  but  were 
depending  upon  the  services  of  Father  Chalupka  or  his  as.'fistant,  Father  Con- 
lin,  who  came  regularly  from  Webster.  But  in  February,  1895,  Father  Cha- 
lupka came  to  live  at  Chicopee.  That  year  he  built  a stable  in  the  rear  of  the 
house  at  a cost  of  $1,000.  In  1898  he  bought  another  tract  of  land,  twelve 
house  lots,  adjoining  his  home,  at  a cost  of  $3, 500.  This  new  purchase  gives 
ample  room  for  expanding  parish  life,  and  lends  to  the  whole  property  a 
sightly  and  spacious  appearance. 

Before  the  opening  of  the  schools  in  September,  1897,  Father  Chalupka 
called  to  Chicopee  three  Franciscan  Sisters  of  the  Felician  Order,  Sisters 
Davidaand  Maria,  with  Sister  Felicia  as  superior.  He  commenced  the  school 
work  in  two  rooms  with  four  grades,  in  the  basement  of  his  church,  and  the 
sisters  welcomed  here  in  September  of  the  same  year  sixty-five  Polish  children. 
They  now  have  care  of  ninety. 

When  Father  Chalupka  assumed  the  care  of  the  Poles  in  Chicopee  he 
found  800  souls  ; there  are  2,400  now.  The  records  of  Polish  baptisms  before 
1891  are  to  be  found  in  the  different  Catholic  churches  of  the  city  ; but  since 
1891  there  are  on  the  registers  of  St.  Stanislaus’,  1091  baptisms,  665  marriages, 
and  one  conversion  from  the  Russian  church. 

Father  Chalupka  has  been  assisted  in  his  parish  work  since  coming  to 
Chicopee  by  Rev.  John  Conlin,  June,  1892,  to  October,  1893;  Rev  James 
Cruse,  July,  1895,  to  October,  1896;  and  Father  Venceslaus  Lenz,  who  is 
still  with  him. 

In  the  summer  of  1896  some  restless  and  ambitious  spirits  of  the  parish 
desired  to  manage  the  church  affairs  themselves.  They  formed  a committee 
and  demanded  that  the  pastor  would  put  into  their  hands  the'  parish  books, 
and  the  authority  of  collecting  and  disbursing  the  parish  moneys.  This  the 
pastor  very  properly  and  forcibly  refused  to  do,  and  in  this  decision  was 
warmly  supported  by  the  bishop.  The  malcontents  then  stirred  up  a rebel- 
lion, which  has  had  most  unhappy  consequences.  They  organized  an  “In- 
dependent” parish,  built  a frame  chapel  and  priests’  house  and  have  had 
religious  services  according  to  their  own  liking  ever  since.  Already  three 


78 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


men  have  served  them  as  pastor.  The  first  two  had  received  a quasi-ordina- 
tion from  the  notorious  Archbishop  Valette,  while  the  present  head  of  the 
faction,  Lachecki,  is  said  to  have  been  ordained  in  the  old  country.  There 
was  a large  defection  from  St.  Stanislaus  at  the  beginning  of  the  rebellion — 
about  400  souls.  Last  Sunday  (July  2,  1899)  49  people  by  actual  count  were 
found  to  be  present  at  the  “Independents’  services.”  The  rebellion  had  in 
it  from  the  first  the  seeds  of  dissolution.  The  death  of  the  “Independent” 
movement  is  inevitable  in  a short  time.  Our  Holy  Father,  Leo  XIII,  in  1898, 
put  under  the  ban  of  excommunication  {excom^nimicatio  major)  the  “Inde- 
pendents ’’  of  this  country,  and  any  religious  affiliation  with  them  in  this  dio- 
cese is  a case  “ reserved  ” for  the  bishop. 

The  majority  of  the  Polish  people  work  in  the  mills,  though  many  are 
employed  by  farmers,  merchants  and  in  ordinary  labor.  Several  of  them  in 
their  own  country  were  tradesmen,  blacksmiths,  carpenters,  etc.,  but  even 
these,  through  lack  of  knowledge  of  English,  have  been  able  to  do  no  better 
than  work  in  the  mills.  In  general  they  are  a moral  people.  They  are  emo- 
tional, easily  excited,  and  when  in  unfortunate  moments,  given  drink^ 
are  turbulent  and  disorderly.  Like  every  other  new  people,  the  disorderly 
ones  are  those  most  frequently  in  the  public  eye,  hence  the  Polish  people  suf- 
fer in  reputation  from  the  misconduct  of  a few. 

Many  of  the  Poles  have  returned,  after  making  some  money,  to  the  old 
country.  Very  few  of  them  came  to  America  determined  upon  acquiring 
citizenship.  This  same  thing,  until  late  years,  was  true  of  the  French  Cana- 
dians. Now  the  Canadians  are  becoming  citizems,  and  in  their  wake  closely 
follow  the  Poles.  There  are  thirty  citizens  among  the  Poles  in  Chicopee  to- 
day, and  this  very  week  (July,  1899)  they  have  formed  themselves  into  a politi- 
cal club  with  the  idea  of  naturalizing  all  the  males  of  their  race.  They  begin 
to  acquire  property ; fifteen  already  have  their  own  homes,  eight  are  in  busi- 
ness— butchers,  grocers,  coal-merchants,  etc.  Many  of  the  young  women  are 
out  in  domestic  service.  They  are  bright  and  ambitious,  and  when  they 
learn  that  the  law  is  to  protect  them  rather  than  oppress  them,  we  may  look 
for  excellent  results  from  the  infusion  of  Polish  blood. 

Father  Chalupka,  the  pastor,  was  born  the  22d  of  July,  1863,  at  Vrato- 
zejow,  Austria.  He  came  to  America  in  1885,  after  finishing  his  classical 
course  in  his  own  country.  He  studied  theology  in  St.  Mary’s  Seminary, 
Baltimore.  He  was  ordained  at  St.  Michael’s  Cathedral,  Springfield,  May  20, 
1888,  by  Bishop  O’Reilly,  and  made  pastor  of  the  Poles  of  Webster  that  same 
day.  He  has  been  in  constant  labor  amongst  the  Poles  ever  since. 

ST.  JOACHIM’S  PARISH, 

Chicopee  Falls. 

(g>^BOUT  one  year  before  the  building  of  St.  Patrick’s  church  in  Chico- 
pee  Falls  Father  Dufresne,  of  Holyoke,  said  Mass  for  the  Canadian 
yJlaY^  Catholics  whom  he  gathered  for  this  purpose  in  Market  Hall.  This 
probably  was  the  first  Mass  celebrated  in  Chicopee.  Confessions 
had  been  heard  and  catechism  taught  to  the  children  by  the  priests  of  the 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


79 


Holy  Name  cliurch  at  Chicopee  years  before,  but  as  far  as  can  now  be  learned 
no  Mass  was  said.  For  more  than  a decade  of  years  after  1880  the  Canadian 
Catholics  came  in  large  numbers  to  Chicopee  Falls.  The  growing  industries 
drew  them.  The  Assiimption  parish  at  Chicopee  could  not  readily  control 
them.  This  was  evident  to  Bishop  Beaven,  who  in  March,  1893,  nominated 
Rev.  Alexis  Delphos  to  organize  a new  parish.  Father  Delphos  took  pos- 
session of  the  parish  the  23d  day  of  the  following  April.  The  organization 
was  effected  in  a spiritual  retreat  which  lasted  three  weeks,  to  which  all  the 
Canadian  people  of  the  Falls  were  called,  and  which  was  conducted  by  Right 
Rev.  Mons.  Guay  of  Canada.  This  retreat  was  held  in  the  hall  on  Market 
Street,  and  herein  it  was  that  the  parish  Mass  was  said  for  eighteen  months 
subsequently.  The  church,  which  is  intended  ultimately  for  a parish  school, 
was  being  built  in  the  interval.  It  was  completed  and  dedicated  by  Bishop 
Beaven  November  18,  1894.  The  same  day  the  bishop  blessed  for  the  church 
a peal  of  three  bells.  There  were  two  sermons  on  that  occasion,  one  in 
French,  by  Rev.  Father  Gagnier,  of  Springfield  ; and  one  in  English,  by 
Rev.  J.  J.  McCoy,  pastor  of  Chicopee.  Three  years  thereafter  Father  Del- 
phos rebuilt  the  church  organ,  making  practically  a new  one.  In  1894,  he 
bought  for  $6500  the  Blight  property,  whereon  now  stands  the  church,  and 
with  it  the  Blight  family  home,  which  served  as  a parochial  residence  till  1895, 
when  the  parish  secured  from  Alfred  DeStelle  the  splendid  Caldwell  property 
adjoining  at  a cost  of  $7500.  The  old  mansion  on  this  estate  is  now  the  pres- 
bytery. The  whole  church  property  was  assessed  this  year  by  Mr.  McIntyre, 
treasurer  of  the  State  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Co.,  as  worth  $64,000. 

The  first  Confirmation  m this  parish  was  on  November  12,  1893,  when 
Bishop  Beaven  confirmed  64  boys  and  48  girls.  The  ceremony,  through  the 
courtesy  of  Father  Bonneville,  was  held  in  the  Church  of  the  Assumption  in 
Chicopee,  for  St.  Joachim’s  parish  was  without  a church.  Father  Delphos, 
on  May  23,  1895,  for  the  first  time  in  the  parish,  gave  First  Communion  to  36 
children. 

Father  Delphos  was  born  in  St.  Hyacinthe,  Canada,  April  6,  1839.  He 
was  educated  in  his  natal  town,  and  was  ordained  to  the  priesthood  at  Nico- 
let,  in  1866,  by  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Cook,  the  first  bishop  of  Three  Rivers.  He 
was  the  Chancellor  of  the  diocese  of  Three  Rivers  for  eight  years.  Then  he 
came  as  assistant  to  Father  Primeau  of  Worcester,  where  he  served  two 
years.  He  remained  one  year  afterwards  at  West  Boylston  2s '‘''locum  ten- 
ens'''  during  the  absence  of  Father  Derbue.  For  fifteen  years  thereafter  he 
was  pastor  at  East  Douglas,  where  he  was  still  at  labor  when  the  bishop 
called  him  to  Chicopee  Falls. 

In  February,  1895,  Rev.  Emile  St.  Onge  came  from  St.  Joseph’s  parish, 
Worcester,  as  assistant  to  Father  Delphos.  He  is  still  (in  1898)  with  him. 

The  parish  of  St.  Joachim  has  a church,  the  upper  part  of  which  is  made 
into  a beautiful  hall,  a house,  a presbytery  and  spacious  well-kept  grounds. 
Father  Delphos  found,  in  his  first  census,  1400  souls ; there  are  now,  after 
the  loss  of  Willimansett,  1120.  It  has  had,  since  its  foundation,  467  baptisms, 
107  marriages  and  25  conversions.  There  is  a pretty  Catholic  custom  in  this 


80 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


parish,  which  does  not  obtain  elsewhere  to  our  knowledge,  of  ringing  the 
peal  of  parish  bells  to  announce  the  baptism  of  a child  in  a deserving  Catho- 
lic family.  The  people  are  quite  of  the  same  class  as  those  of  the  Church  of 
the  Assumption  in  the  Center. 

Until  the  late  fall  of  1897,  Father  Delphos,  in  association  with  Father 
McCoy,  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Name,  had  the  present  parish  at  Williman- 
sett  and  Aldenville  as  a mission. 


WILLIMANSETT. 

IMMEDIATELY  upon  the  appointment  of  Father  McCoy  to  Chicopee  in 
August,  1894,  he  began  searching  out  the  Catholic  people  of  Irish  and 
German  origin  in  the  north  end  of  the  city  of  Chicopee.  Before  he  was 
enabled  to  say  Mass  for  the  people,  with  the  assistance  of  his  curate. 
Father  Edward  Fitzgerald,  he  gathered  the  children  for  Catechism  each  Sat- 
urday afternoon  into  a small  hall  which  during  the  week  was  used  as  a dance 
hall,  at  the  head  of  Prospect  street.  He  paid  a dollar  each  Saturday  for  the 
use  of  the  hall.  At  the  same  time  Father  Delphos  began  looking  after  the 
French-speaking  Catholics  in  Willimansett  and  Aldenville.  The  two  priests 
agreed  to  hire  a little  hall  which  had  been  used  by  a social  club  of  French 
Canadians  on  Olivine  street,  to  fit  it  up  as  a chapel  and  divide  the  expense  of 
the  rental  between  them.  This  was  done.  Father  Delphos  surmounted  it 
with  a cross,  called  it  Notre  Dame  des  Victoires,  and  herein  the  first  Mass 
ev'er  said  in  Willimansett  was  said  by  Rev.  J.  J.  McCoy  on  Christmas  morn- 
ing, 1894.  Three  Masses  were  said  each  Sunday, — one  for  the  English-speak- 
ing people  at  eight  o’clock,  and  for  the  French-speaking  people  one  at  seven 
o’clock  and  another  at  half-past  ten.  In  the  forenoon  the  children  in  Father 
McCoy’s  charge  were  taught  catechism  by  the  young  ladies  of  the  parish, 
under  the  immediate  supervision  of  Rev.  Brother  Michael,  the  Director 
of  the  Christian  Brothers’  school  in  the  parish  of  the  Holy  Name,  Chicopee. 
This  continued  till  September  12,  1897,  when  Rev.  Hormisdas  Hamelin  was 
made  the  first  resident  pastor. 

In  the  first  census  of  the  English-speaking  people  taken  by  Father 
McCoy  in  1895,  there  were  found  forty-six  families,  with  a total  of  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty-four  souls.  There  were  eight  Catholic  women  having  Pro- 
testant husbands,  and  two  Catholic  men  with  Protestant  wives.  The  French 
numbered  six  hundred  and  fifty. 

Shortly  after  Father  Hamelin’s  coming,  he  built  a chapel  in  Aldenville, 
after  plans  by  architect  G.  P.  B.  Alderman.  It  is  a frame  building,  two  and 
one-half  stories  high,  so  arranged  that  it  may  be  converted  into  a parochial 
school  should  the  future  call  for  a greater  church.  It  is  42  feet  in  length, 
70  feet  in  width,  and  seats  three  hundred  and  fifty  people.  This  church  was 
dedicated  by  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Beaven,  October  30,  1898.  Rev.  Owen  McGee, 
of  Holyoke,  preached  the  sermon. 

In  1898  Father  Hamelin  built,  at  a cost  of  $12,500,  a brick  church  on 
Chicopee  Street,  Willimansett.  It  measures  52  by  102  feet,  and  has  from  side- 
walk to  apex  of  tower  no  feet.  It  was  ready  for  services  in  September  the 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


81 


same  year,  and  the  first  Mass  was  said  therein  by  Father  Hamelin  on  the  i8th 
day  of  that  month.  A Dominican  priest  from  Canada,  Father  Knapp,  was 
then  “ giving  a mission  ” to  the  people  of  the  parish,  and  he  preached  the 
sermon  at  the  “ opening.”  It  was  dedicated  the  30th  day  of  the  following 
month  by  Bishop  Beaven,  who  also  preached  the  dedication  sermon.  The 
same  day  he  confirmed  eighty-eight  children  of  the  parish. 

Father  Hamelin  was  born  near  Three  Rivers,  in  the  Province  of  Quebec, 
Canada.  In  his  fourth  year  he  came  to  Massachusetts  with  his  parents,  who 
settled  at  Spencer.  He  made  his  classical  course  in  Canada,  was  ordained  at 
Montreal  in  December,  1890,  and  immediately  went  as  curate  to  Father  Cre- 
vier  in  Holyoke.  After  four  and  one-half  years’  service  there,  he  was  called 
by  the  bishop  to  take  temporary  charge  of  St.  Joseph’s  church,  Worcester, 
during  the  absence  of  the  pastor  in  Europe.  He  was,  on  return  of  the  pastor, 
made  curate  of  the  chi:rch  of  Notre  Dame,  Worcester,  January  9,  1896,  and 
remained  there  until  his  appointment  to  Willimansett.  Father  Hamelin 
speaks  French  and  English  fluently,  is  zealous,  appears  to  be  a capable 
administrator,  and  has  the  expressed  good-will  of  his  parishioners.  He  is 
to  be  credited  with  having  done  a great  work  in  a short  time. 

His  curates  have  been  Rev.  Peter  Higgins,  May  i to  September  15,  1898, 
and  Rev.  Michael  Walsh,  who  came  July  15,  and  is  yet  on  duty.  From  Sep- 
tember 12,  1897,  to  January,  1898,  there  were  sixteen  baptisms,  one  marriage 
and  one  conversion. 

The  parish  has  six  hundred  and  fifty  French-speaking  people  in  Wil- 
limansett, with  four  hundred  more  in  Aldenville,  and  to  this  we  must  add,  in 
Willimansett,  two  hundred  and  ninety  people  more,  twenty  of  whom  are  of 
German  blood,  the  rest  of  Irish,  to  make  up  the  general  count, — thirteen  hun- 
dred and  fifty  souls. 

ST.  JEROME’S  PARISH. 

Holyoke. 

K3EYOKE  lies  stretched  out  at  full  length  along  the  Connecticut 
River,  with  its  shoulders  snugly  up  against  Mt.  Tom.  It  has  in 
the  turning  of  its  mighty  hands  twice  the  water-power  of  any 
other  city  in  the  world,  whereby  may  be  set  whirling  the  wheels 
of  a hundred  industries.  Half  in  joke,  half  in  earnest,  they  call  it  the  “ Irish 
City.”  Mayhap  there  is  a fitness  in  this.  The  first  settlers  before  it  formed 
“the  third  parish  of  West  Springfield”  were  of  Irish  origin,  and  the  place 
was  first  known  to  the  world  as  “ Ireland  Depot.”  The  west  side  of  the  city 
to  this  day  is  “ Ireland  Parish.”  The  descendants  of  John  Riley,  who  lived 
at  Springfield  between  1636  and  1664,  gave  the  name  of  “Riley  Brook”  to 
the  rivulet  that  tumbles  along  musically  below  the  Sisters’  Towers  at  Bright- 
side.  Before  1847  the  waters  of  the  great  Connecticut  fell  sixty  feet,  and 
then  rolled  uselessly  to  the  sea.  But  in  that  year  some  gentlemen,  recogni- 
zing the  great  possibilities  in  the  utilization  of  this  power,  obtained  from  the 
Legislature  an  act  of  incorporation  for  the  benefit  of  the  Hadley  Falls  Com- 
pany. These  men  were  Thomas  H.  Perkins,  George  W.  Lyman  and  Edmund 
6 


82 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Dwight.  Their  capital  stock  was  four  millions  of  dollars.  They  bought  the 
entire  property  and  franchise  of  the  “ Proprietors  of  the  Locks  and  Canals  on 
Connecticut  River.” 

In  connection  with  the  building  of  this  dam,  the  canals  that  followed, 
and  the  railroad  that  was  in  course  of  construction  from  Springfield  to  North- 
ampton in  1834,  the  Irish  first  came  in  large  bodies  to  Holyoke.  Where  and 
by  whom  the  first  Mass  was  said  is  now  uncertain.  The  father  of  Colonel  E. 
Clark,  of  Springfield,  has  said  that  the  first  Mass  was  offered  in  the  old  Hamp- 
den Paper  Mill  below  the  South  Hadley  Falls  bridge,  close  to  the  “old  Ferry 
place,”  but  by  whom  he  does  not  recall.  Another  authority  would  place  the 
first  Mass  as  said  under  a tree  just  to  the  west  of  the  Catholic  Institute.  This 
Mass  is  repprted  as  said  by  a Father  Bartholomew  Connor,  from  Ireland.  It 
has  been  held  that  Rev.  John  D.  Brady,  of  Chicopee,  came  to  offer  sacrifice 
for  the  people ; if  so,  it  must  have  been  before  October  18,  1847,  for  on  that 
date  he  died  in  Boston.  Rev.  James  Strain,  his  successor  at  Chicopee,  then 
came  at  intervals  during  the  next  two  months.  He  said  Mass  in  Exchange 
Hall,  on  High  street,  as  also  did  his  successor.  Rev.  William  A.  Bleukinsop. 
The  people  were  not  attended  oftener  than  once  every  five  weeks  until  1856, 
when  Rev.  Jeremiah  O’ Callaghan  settled  here  as  the  first  resident  pastor.  He 
was  old  and  worn  from  the  severe  labors  of  a quarter  of  a century  on  the 
missions,  and  from  the  intellectual  harassments  of  the  life  of  controversy 
which  from  his  young  manhood  he  had  lived ; yet  he  brought  knowledge, 
zeal  and  capacity  for  work,  and  shortly  had  the  people  in  something  like 
parish  form. 

He  commenced  to  plan  St.  Jerome’s  church,  and  engaged  for  this  pur- 
pose the  famous  architect  Keely.  Meanwhile  he  said  Mass,  as  did  his  j^rede- 
cessors,  in  Exchange  Hall.  One  Sunday  Jonas  S.  Davis,  agent  of  the  Lyman 
mills,  who  was  friendly  to  the  priest  and  people,  hearing  that  Father  O’ Cal- 
laghan would  ask  for  help,  attended  this  Mass.  There  was  no  tabernacle,  and 
hence  no  way  to  keep  the  Blessed  Sacrament  during  the  week.  The  priest 
therefore  at  the  gospel  always  counted  those  who  desired  communion.  This 
day  Father  O’ Callaghan,  in  Irish,  bade  the  people  rise  for  this  purpose,  and 
Mr.  Davis,  thinking  that  he  was  asking  for  help,  to  the  extraordinary  sur- 
prise of  the  people,  addressed  them  himself,  telling  them  of  the  good  the 
church  would  do  in  their  midst  and  counseling  generous  co-operation ; he 
finished  by  calling  to  him  a little  girl  to  whom  he  gave  a hundred  dollars  with 
the  command,  “Go  hand  that  to  the  priest.”  The  beautiful  church  was 
completed  in  i860,  and  dedicated  by  Bishop  Fitzpatrick.  The  famous 
Jesuit,  Father  John  Bapst,  who  six  years  before  had  been  tarred  and  feathered 
by  an  Ellsworth  mob,  preached  the  sermon.  The  church  was  built  by  Cap- 
tain Mack,  of  Chicopee,  who  sub-let  the  stone-work  to  John  Delaney,  the  brick- 
work to  Messrs.  Bosworth  & Blodgett,  and  the  carpentering  to  Patrick  Dunn. 

Father  O’ Callaghan  died  in  1861,  and  a grateful  people  have  reared  a 
granite  shaft  to  his  memory.  They  tenderly  put  him  at  rest  under  the 
eastern  walls  of  the  church  he  had  built,  and  there  every  sunrise  lights  his 
grave  at  the  time  it  gilds  the  crosses. 


ST.  JEROME'S  CHURCH 
Holyoke,  Mass. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


83 


Father  James  F,  Sullivan  was,  after  Father  O’ Callaghan,  the  pastor  for 
four  years.  He  secured  the  present  cemetery.  Then  came  Rev.  P.  J.  Har- 
kins in  1866.  Father  Harkins  has  seen,  in  the  thirty  years  of  his  life  here, 
the  town  grown  from  5,000  to  more  than  50,000.  Where  there  were  then 
900  Catholic  people,  one  church  and  one  priest,  now  there  are  five  churches, 
six  congregations,  with  seventeen  priests  attending  them ; and  the  number 
of  Catholics  is  fully  25,000  souls. 

The  religious  advance  has  kept  equal  step  with  the  material.  The  year 
after  his  coming  Father  Harkins  asked  the  people  to  build  the  convent  for 
the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame.  This  they  did  at  a cost  of  ^18,000.  It  was  com- 
pleted in  1868,  and  four  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame  came  to  the  shelter  of  its 
walls.  That  same  year  he  paid  the  town  another  $3,000  for  the  wooden 
school-house,  then  standing  opposite  his  home  on  Elm  street,  and  at  the  cost 
of  ail  additional  thousand,  had  it  moved  to  the  church-grounds  and  fitted 
for  a girls’  school.  It  then  stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  parish  house  of 
the  Sisters  of  Providence.  While  busy  with  convent  and  school  at  home,  he 
had  hand  and  heart  at  work  for  the  people  of  South  Hadley  Falls.  In  1867 
he  purchased  for  $4,000  land  and  house  for  parish  purposes.  In  the  next 
year  he  began  the  building  of  a frame  church,  which  Bishop  Williams  dedi- 
cated in  1869.  This  church  cost  $15,000.  When  Father  Harkins  relin- 
quished the  place  to  its  first  pastor,  iu  1878,  the  whole  debt  had  been  cleared 
with  the  exception  of  $2,000.  Two  years  more  and  he  is  busy  with  the 
erection  of  the  Catholic  Institute,  which  will  serve  as  chapel  for  parish 
society  work  and  as  a school  for  boys.  It  was  completed  in  1872  at  an  ex- 
penditure of  $40,000,  and  the  first  parochial  school  for  boys  in  our  diocese 
opeus  therein  that  same  year  under  the  care  of  a body  of  lay  teachers.  Miss 
Grace  Harkins,  the  pastor’s  sister,  who  has  had  experience  as  a teacher  in 
the  Boston  public  schools,  is  principal  in  charge,  while  the  Misses  Kate  Har- 
kins, Mary  A.  Duckford,  Hannah  E.  McCoy,  Catherine  Holmes  and  Mar- 
garet Pollitt,  the  last  four  graduates  of  the  parish  schools,  are  her  assistants. 

Four  years  later  the  Sisters  of  Providence  came  to  Holyoke  to  the  charge 
of  the  boys’  school  and  for  the  works  of  charity  in  the  parish.  For  a while 
they  had  an  orphanage  and  hospital  under  his  care,  at  South  Hadley  Falls, 
whence  they  returned  in  1878,  after  the  purchase  of  the  parson’s  property  on 
Dwight  street,  which  was  then  made  into  a home  for  the  Sisters,  and  a hos- 
pital for  the  sick.  The  change  was  effected  in  1879.  began,  in  1876, 

the  erection  of  the  Church  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  whose  corner-stone  was  laid 
by  Bishop  O’Reilly  on  July  4th  of  that  year.  Rev.  John  Swift,  now  Vicar- 
general  of  the  diocese  of  Albany,  preached  the  sermon.  The  basement  w'as 
dedicated  by  the  same  prelate  iu  the  summer  of  1877.  Rev.  Peter  McKenna, 
of  Marlborough,  preached  on  this  occasion. 

The  splendid  school  for  girls  facing  the  park  he  began  to  build  iu  1882. 
Rev.  Father  Brady,  S.J.,  president  of  Holy  Cross  College,  preached  at  the 
laying  of  the  corner-stone,  and  when  the  school  was  completed,  early  in  1883, 
Father  James  McDermott,  of  Springfield,  preached  at  the  dedication.  The 
children  were  at  work  in  the  new  school  in  February,  1883.  A little  more 


84 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


than  a year  of  respite  and  we  find  him  again  in  the  midst  of  work,  this  time 
rebuilding  on  nobler  lines  the  parish  church.  This  was  done,  and  the  church 
re-dedicated  in  1886,  at  which  ceremony  Rev.  Jeremiah  O’Connor,  S.  J.,  of 
Boston  College,  preached  the  sermon.  The  rebuilding  of  the  church  cost 
150,000. 

Four  years  afterwards,  in  the  September  of  1890,  the  church,  free  of 
debt,  is  consecrated  with  magnificent  ceremony  and  great  rejoicing  on  the 
feast  of  its  patron,  St.  Jerome.  Bishop  O’Reilly  is  the  consecrating  prelate. 
Rev.  Denis  O’ Callaghan,  of  South  Boston,  preached  in  the  morning,  and  Rev. 
John  J.  McCo)’,  of  Westboro,  in  the  evening. 

In  1890,  Father  Harkins  built  across  the  road  from  the  Institute  the  con- 
vent home  of  the  Sisters  of  Providence,  who  are  directly  engaged  in  parish 
work  at  St.  Jerome’s.  It  cost  $20,000.  Last  year,  on  the  occasion  of  the 
jubilee  of  the  Sisters  of  Providence,  he  presented  to  Bishop  Beaven,  for  the 
hospital  Sisters,  the  “ Harkins  Home,”  a beautiful  and  spacious  building 
devoted  to  the  care  of  aged  women.  This  home,  erected  on  the  hospital 
grounds,  is  the  pastor’s  personal  gift.  It  cost  him  more  than  $20,000. 

This  year  (1899)  finds  him  just  as  busy  as  of  old  erecting  a chapel  at  the 
west  side  of  the  church.  It  is  intended  for  the  use  of  parish  religious  societies, 
and  its  first  cost  will  cover  $20,000. 

In  addition  to  the  cost  of  the  buildings  enumerated.  Father  Harkins  esti- 
mates the  land  upon  which  they  stand  in  value  near  to  $50,000. 

Besides  the  Harkins  Home,  the  rector  has  given  as  personal  charities  a 
part  of  the  land  where  stands  the  hospital  (in  value  $5,000),  and  the  Stersburg 
farm  at  Ingleside,  for  which  he  paid  $2,000  more.  Beyond  anybody  else,  he 
has  had  to  do  with  the  orphanage  for  girls  at  Ingleside,  and,  in  great  measure, 
with  the  new  Providence  hospital  on  Dwight  street. 

When  the  first  parish  .school — the  second  in  the  diocese — opened  in  1868, 
three  hundred  and  fifty  girls  came  to  the  four  teaching  Sisters.  Now  six 
hundred  girls  follow  the  course  through  the  grammar  and  high-school  grades 
under  the  tutelage  of  seventeen  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame.  Four  hundred  boys, 
taught  by  twelve  Sisters  of  Providence,  are  engaged  in  the  grammar  grades. 

There  have  been  14,406  baptisms  ; 3,604  marriages,  and  23  conversions 
from  Protestantism  since  the  founding  of  the  parish. 

The  curates  have  been:  Rev.  James  Tracy,  October,  1863,  to  June,  1864  ; 
Rev.  T.  Hannigan,  June,  1864,  to  January,  1866;  Rev.  F.  J.  Lynch,  March, 
1866,  to  December,  1869  ; Rev.  Charles  McManus,  December,  1869,  to  July, 
1871;  Rev.  Francis  Brennan,  August,  1871,  to  October,  1871;  Rev.  Thomas 
Smyth,  January,  1872,  to  July,  1872;  Rev.  P.  B.  Phelan,  June,  1872,  to  May, 
1873;  Rev.  C.  J.  Cronin,  January,  1873,  to  January,  1876;  Rev.  John  E.  Gar- 
rity,  September,  1875,  to  October,  1876;  Rev.  David  Moyes,  January,  1876, 
to  August,  1876  ; Rev.  J.  A.  O’Reilly,  October,  1876,  to  September,  1879; 
Rev.  R.  F.  Walsh,  December,  1876,  to  May,  1877  ; Rev.  L-  Derwin,  June,  1877, 
to  Angust,  1878;  Rev.  L.  E.  Stebbins,  June,  1878,  to  August,  1880;  Rev. 
James  McKeon,  September,  1879,  to  June,  1881;  Rev.  W.  T.  Jennings,  May, 
1881,  to  November,  1881;  Rev.  John  R.  Murphy,  June,  1881,  to  June,  1887; 


Rev.  D F.  McGRATH. 


Rev.  P.  B.  PHELAN,  P.R. 


Rev.  P.  J.  HARKINS,  P.R. 


Rev.  CHARLES  CREVIER. 


Rev.  C.  E.  BREUNP:AULT. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


85 


Rev.  M.  J.  Harty,  January,  1882,  to  October,  1882  ; Rev.  W.  J.  Powers,  Jan- 
uary, 1883,  to  December,  1883;  Rev.  John  Crowe,  January,  1884,  to  January, 
1885;  Rev.  George  Fitzgerald,  January,  1885,  to  August,  1889;  Rev.  W. 
Hart,  January,  1887, to  June,  1889;  Rev.  John  Gavin,  March,  1889,  to  August, 
1889;  Rev.  Patrick  Hafey,  August,  1889,  to  September,  1893;  Rev.  A.  A. 
Dwyer,  August,  1889,  to  November,  1892  ; Rev.  J.  J.  Donnelly,  November, 
1892,  to  April  1896;  Rev.  Richard  Healey,  October,  1893,  to  December  ; Rev. 
Daniel  Sheehan,  December,  1893,  to  March,  1894.  Rev.  O.  IM.  Magee,  March, 
1894;  Rev.  A.  O.  Mally,  January,  1895,  and  Rev.  John  Ivers,  April,  1896,  are 
still  in  service. 

Here  is  the  marvelous  story  of  a parish  that  has  known  just  more  than 
two  score  years  of  life.  It  has  made  St.  Jerome’s  the  completest  parish  in  the 
Springfield  diocese,  and  its  rector  the  most  eminent  priest,  both  in  years  of 
service  and  in  fruitfulness  of  achievement,  west  of  the  Connecticut.  Bishop 
O’Reilly  early  made  Father  Harkins  a permanent  rector,  and  his  brother 
priests,  in  1893,  showed  unmistakably  the  measure  of  their  respect  and  his 
worth  by  giving  him  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  diocese  as  first  choice  of  three 
names  within  their  privilege  for  the  bishop’s  council.  He  is  now  sixty-five 
years  old,  and  has  been  thirty-four  of  them  a priest.  Holyoke  is  his  first  pas- 
torate, and  all  the  works  enumerated  above,  with  the  sole  exception  of  the 
church,  have  come  into  existence  under  his  care  ; even  the  church  has  been 
enlarged  and  beautified  beyond  any  conception  of  its  original  designers.  Plis 
credit  lies  not  alone  in  these  institutions,  but  in  the  fact  that  they  are,  through 
the  hearty  support  of  its  people,  practically  out  of  debt.  He  has  been  a man 
of  deeds,  not  dreams.  He  is  hot-headed  and  hot-hearted,  with  all  the  impul- 
siveness, boldness,  and  dash,  yet,  in  cool  hours,  all  the  canny  good  sense  of  the 
hardy  men  of  his  native  Donegal.  That  he  never  makes  mistakes,  his  dearest 
friends  will  not  claim.  He  has  made  hundreds.  Every  positive  nature  does  so, 
and  the  more  frequently  when  the  heart  is  honest  and  knows  no  fear.  No  man, 
or  measure,  or  body  of  men,  are  assured  of  immunity  from  his  tongue  or  swing- 
ing lash  if  there  appears  to  him  a good  reason  for  attack.  He  is  a power  in 
Holyoke’s  public  life,  and  is  feared  and  respected  aceordingly.  Yet  even 
those  who  have  smarted  while  he  struek  will  admit  his  sincerity  ; and  every 
one  knows  that,  if  quick  with  the  whip-hand,  he  is  equally  quick  to  repair  a 
wrong,  and  will  do  it  as  publicly  as  he  offends.  As  the  years  come  upon  him 
he  mellows  and  sweetens  and  grows  into  the  honest  affections  of  his  people.^^ 
They  better  see  each  day  his  worth  and  the  blessings  which  his  positive,  char- 
acter has  wrought  for  them.  With  the  people  he  is  still  the  first,  as  he  is  the  ■ ■ 
oldest,  of  their  clergymen.  Holyoke  has  had,  and  has  to  day,  priests  eminent 
in  scholarship  and  in  capacity  for  affairs,  and  of  high  respect  in  and  out  of 
their  own  eongregations  ; but  in  the  public  estimation  of  his  own  city.  Father 
Harkins  is  like  Saul  among  his  brethren,  “ head  and  shoulders  above  .phe 
rest.”  . } -i 

The  people  of  St.  Jerome’s  parish  are  of  Irish  lineage,  and  from  the  begin- 
ning have  enjoyed  excellent  reputation  among  their  neighbors.  This  is  par- 
ticularly true  of  the  old  stock,  the  families  who  came  before  1855  or  there- 


86 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


abouts.  Mr.  John  B.  Wood,  the  venerable  president  of  the  Chicopee  Savings 
Bank  (1899),  was  a boy  at  work  in  the  grocery  store  of  Mr.  Conklin  in  “ Ire- 
land Parish  ” when  the  first  body  of  Irishmen  came  for  labor  on  the  canals. 
They  were  under  the  control  of  a contractor  named  Mooney,  to  whom  Messrs. 
Boody  & Ross  had  sublet  the  work.  One  hundred  came  the  first  day.  Hol- 
yoke then  had  but  two  stores,  Mr.  Conklin’s  and  that  of  Chester  Craft,  at 
“Craft’s  Tavern,’’  Northampton  street,  which  also  was  the  post-office  and 
depot  for  the  stage  running  between  Springfield  and  Northampton. 

The  Irish  had  to  go  to  those  stores  for  food  the  day  of  their  arrival.  That 
day  and  thenceforward,  even  through  the  dread  time  of  the  “plague,”  when 
the  poor  stricken  Irish  died  by  scores  daily,  Mr.  Wood  brought  them  food. 
“They  were  peaceful  and  kindly,”  says  Mr.  Wood,  “and  absolutely  honest. 
When  a man  grown  I personally  dealt  with  them  in  business  at  Holyoke  and  in 
Chicopee,  thirteen  years  in  the  sale  of  groceries  and  nine  in  general  drygoods, 
and  I may  safely  say  that  twenty-five  dollars  would  cover  every  penny  ever  lost 
in  my  dealings  with  tliem.  Their  tenderness  to  one  another  in  the  ‘plague,’ 
and  their  utter  fearlessness  in  succoring  neighbors  in  the  face  of  death,  was 
marvelous.  One  morning  when  I came  with  food  to  the  shanties  I saw 
eighteen  coffins  arranged  side  by  side.  The  disinfectants  made  the  whole 
place  white  as  after  a fall  of  snow,  and  I found  neighbors  caring  for  neighbors 
tenderly..  Those  of  us  who  knew  the  Irish  then  have  loved  them  since.” 

The  descendants  of  these  very  people  have  had  much  to  do  with  the 
growth  and  prosperity  of  Holyoke,  and  every  office  within  its  gift  has  been 
theirs  repeatedly.  Unfortunately,  within  the  last  few  years  some  things  have 
occurred  in  political  life  to  their  discredit;  but  the  great  general  heart  of  the 
people  has  always  been  right.  No  honest  man  thinks  of  blaming  a whole 
honorable  body  for  the  misdeeds  of  two  or  three  who  by  demagoguery  had 
lifted  themselves  into  places  beyond  their  deserts. 

Many  of  the  Irish  Catholics  are  wealthy.  They  are  the  builders  and  con- 
tractors of  the  city.  Their  sons  and  daughters  teach  in  the  schools.  In  Feb- 
ruary, 1898,  Governor  Walcott  appointed  to  the  Associate  Justiceship  William 
Slattery,  a member  of  St.  Jerome’s  parish,  the  first  Roman  Catholic  of  Hamp- 
den county  to  become  a judge. 

PARISH  OF  THE  PRECIOUS  BROOD, 

Holyoke. 

(5  I HE  parish  of  the  Precious  Blood  in  Holyoke  is  the  oldest  congregation 
JJ  of  French-Canadian  people  in  the  diocese.  It  was  formed  in  1869  by 
Rev.  A.  B.  Dufresne,  who  built  that  year  on  Park  street  a frame  church 
which  was  dedicated  the  following  New  Year’s.  The  first  knowledge  we 
have  of  French- Canadians  in  this  neighborhood  is  of  a few  families  who  came 
to  work  at  Mittineague  some  time  between  1852  and  1854.  The  family  of 
Joseph  Prew  was  amongst  them.  , He  worked  in  the  picker-room  of  the  mills 
in  Mittineague,  and  would  walk  Sundays  with  his  family  to  Springfield  or  to 
Chicopee  whenever  he  heard  that  Mass  was  to  be  said  in  either  place.  The 
eldest  son  tells  of  the  family  kneeling  before  the  door  of  a church  in  Chicopee 


PRECIOUS  BLOOD  CHURCH 
Holyoke,  Mass. 


* ~ 6 . ‘ 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


87 


“ having  a cross  on  it,”  which  naturally  they  supposed  was  a Catholic  church, 
and  there  devoutly  saying  their  beads ; a man  coming  from  within  recognized 
their  mistake  and  kindly  led  them  to  St.  Matthew’s  church  on  the  hill  under 
the  care  of  Father  Brady.  After  a short  stay  in  Mittineague  the  Prews  re- 
turned to  Canada,  but  came  again  in  1858, — this  time  to  Holyoke.  There 
were  two  Canadian  families  in  Holyoke  before  them,  the  Terriens  and  the 
Benoits. 

Nearly  two  years  after  Mr.  Prew’s  coming  he  was  sent  to  Canada  by  the 
agent  of  the  Lyman  Mills  to  engage  the  services  of  half  a hundred  young 
people.  A four-horse  wagon  was  made  by  a wheelwright  named  Shelly,  and 
in  this  Mr.  Prew,  Sr.,  drove  to  Canada.  He  returned  in  i860  with  forty-five 
young  people,  less  than  half  a dozen  of  whom  were  men  and  boys.  They 
reached  Holyoke  in  two  large  wagons,  one  drawn  by  six  horses  and  the  other 
by  four.  A one-horse  wagon  followed  with  their  baggage.  Most  of  their 
food  for  the  journey  they  brought  with  them.  They  slept  in  the  school-houses 
on  the  way.  In  this  group  came  one  who,  afterwards  ordained  a priest,  became 
a noted  missionary  to  the  Indians  of  the  West,  Father  John  St.  Onge,  brother 
of  Rev.  E.  A.  St.  Onge,  of  Chicopee  Falls. 

This  was  the  first  considerable  influx  of  Canadians.  They  came  at  inter- 
vals thenceforward  in  parties  large  or  small  as  the  growing  industries  of  the 
place  promised  labor,  until  they  had  become  thirty  years  ago  sufficiently 
numerous  to  require  a priest  for  their  special  care.  They  were  then  more 
numerous  at  Mittineague  than  at  Holyoke,  however,  and  when  Father  Du- 
fresne  agreed  with  the  bishop  to  assume  their  care,  it  was  understood  that 
Mittineague  would  be  his  home  and  the  centre  of  his  labors ; but  the  priest, 
with  keen  eye,  soon  saw  that  the  drift  of  his  people  was  Holyoke-wards,  and 
following  his  prevision  placed  his  tabernacle  here. 

Time  has  proved  the  excellence  of  his  judgment.  A special  correspond- 
ent in  the  Springfield  Republican  of  July  30,  1899,  says  there  are  over  thirteen 
thousand  people  of  Canadian  birth  or  blood  in  Holyoke, — about  one-quarter 
of  the  whole  population. 

Five  years  after  the  building  of  Father  Dufresne’s  frame  church,  during 
the  May  services,  some  lace  was  blown  against  a lighted  candle ; instantly  the 
whole  place  was  enveloped  in  flames.  There  was  a stampede  of  the  congre- 
gation. They  rushed  to  the  doorways,  choking  egress ; some  were  crushed 
in  the  frenzy,  while  others  were  burnt  to  death  from  the  rapidly-spreading 
fire.  Seventy-two  people  of  the  congregation  lost  their  lives  in  this  holocaust. 
Hundreds  of  other  lives  were  saved  by  the  coolness  and  bravery  of  young 
Iri.sh  Catholic  men,  members  of  the  Shamrock  Baseball  Nine,  who  were  play- 
ing close  to  the  church  when  the  calamity  occurred.  Chief  of  these  was  John 
J.  Lynch,  who  with  his  own  hand  and  at  the  repeated  imminent  risk  of  his 
life  saved  more  than  a score.  The  whole  country  hailed  him  as  a hero  for 
this  deed,  and  his  city  has  since  kept  him  at  the  head  of  its  Fire  Department, 
where  he  has  proved  an  efficient  and  trusty  chief. 

The  poor  people  with  this  memory  sobering  them  set  themselves  to  the 
building  of  a new  temple  to  God.  It  was  dedicated  June  3,  1878.  On  the 


88 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


14th  of  May,  nine  years  after,  Father  Dufresne  died.  He  sleeps  before  the 
door  of  the  church  in  the  very  spot  where  the  first  chapel  had  been  built,  and 
a grateful  people  have  reared  above  his  head  an  enduring  monument. 

Father  Dufresne  was  a man  of  extraordinary  zeal,  and  though  slight  of 
figure,  appeared  to  have  thews  and  sinews  like  wire  of  steel.  He  worked 
day  and  night  even  with  his  own  hands ; would  carry  on  his  shoulders  great 
loads  of  timber  or  other  material ; he  superintended  the  minutest  detail  of 
his  church,  and  seemed  never  to  sleep  nor  have  time  for  sleeping. 

He  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  H.  O.  Landry,  who  died  in  the  early  fall  of 
1890,  and  in  whose  stead  came  September  15,  1890,  Rev.  Charles  Crevier,  the 
present  pastor. 

The  church  of  the  Precious  Blood,  in  brick  and  stone,  is  of  modified 
Gothic  architecture.  It  will  seat  1,100,  and  cost  $78,000. 

Oil  September  18,  1894,  Father  Crevier  opened  to  the  children  of  his 
parish  a splendid  brick  school-house  of  sixteen  rooms,  which  he  had  built  at 
a cost  of  $28,000.  Twelve  hundred  pupils  study  there  daily  in  the  grammar 
grades,  under  the  direction  of  twenty-two  Sisters  of  St.  Ann.  He  has  built 
since  his  coming  a parochial  residence,  which  is  acknowledged  one  of  the 
finest  presbyteries  in  all  New  England,  and  which  cost  at  completion  $30,000. 

The  convent  for  the  Sisters,  built  by  Father  Landry,  was  valued  at  $i  2,000. 

When  Father  Dufresne  began  the  formation  of  the  parish  there  were  five 
hundred  souls.  Now  in  the  church  of  the  Precious  Blood  there  are  6,000. 
There  have  been  from  January,  1887,  to  December,  1898,  849  marriages,  and 
from  January,  1879,  fo  December,  1898,  6,429  baptisms.  The  records  for  the 
earlier  years  are  lost.  The  parish  which  is  in  excellent  condition  has  church, 
school,  presbytery,  convent,  and  a cemetery  of  eight  acres. 

The  people  are  of  the  working  class,  though  several  are  builders,  con- 
tractors and  merchants;  a few  have  large  means. 

Father  Crevier  enjoys  the  distinction  of  being  the  earliest  missionary 
Canadian  priest  of  the  Berkshires.  His  life  has  been  busy  and  useful.  He 
was  born  in  Montreal  May  19,  1839,  made  his  classical  studies  at  St.  Mary’s, 
the  college  of  the  Jesuits,  in  Montreal.  He  was  ordained  in  the  same  city, 
July  21,  1867.  Chateaugau  then  knew  his  labors  for  two  years.  He  was 
chaplain  to  the  Brothers  of  Charity  two  years  more,  after  which  he  came  to 
the  diocese  of  Springfield,  November  23,  1870.  In  this  diocese  he  served  as 
curate  for  seven  months,  and  was  then  made  pastor  of  North  Adams,  June  4, 
1871.  He  came  to  Indian  Orchard  July  24,  1886,  and  thence  to  Holyoke 
September  15,  1890. 

SACRED  HEART  PARISH, 

Holyoke. 


IN  1868  Father  Harkins  built  the  church  of  St.  Patrick,  in  South  Hadley 
Falls,  and  in  1876  again  planned  for  a church  in  the  south  side  of  Holy- 
oke. He  bought  a square  just  between  Maple,  Franklin,  Chestnut  and 
Sargeant  streets,  exactly  the  size  of  the  pretty  Hampden  park,  which 
lies  before  his  own  doorway.  That  was  the  year  of  the  building  of  the  West- 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


89 


field  and  Holyoke  Railroad,  and  Contractor  John  McCoy  then  had  an  army  of 
men  and  horses  at  work  thereon.  A great  body  of  men  volunteered  their  ser- 
vices for  one  afternoon’s  work  in  digging  for  the  foundations.  Mr.  McCoy 
came  with  a score  of  horses,  and  the  hearty  workmen  made  the  sand  so  fly  all 
the  afternoon,  that  at  nightfall  a broad  space  was  nearly  ready  for  the  foun- 
dation walls.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  July  4,  1876  the  side  walls  were 
up,  the  building  roofed  and  the  basement  ready  for  services  in  December,  that 
same  year.  On  Christmas  day  the  first  Mass  was  celebrated.  The  basement 
was  dedicated  in  the  summer  of  1877. 

In  May  of  1878  the  parish  was  set  off  from  St.  Jerome’s,  and  Father 
Harkins  passed  the  pastoral  care  into  the  hands  of  Rev.  James  F.  Sheehan, 
who  was  then  curate  at  St.  Joseph’s,  Pittsfield.  Father  Sheehan  was  given 
charge  of  all  the  English-speaking  Catholics  south  of  the  centre  line  of 
Dwight  street,  even  to  the  West  Springfield  line.  They  numbered  two  thou- 
sand souls.  The  new  pastor  at  once  began  the  building  of  the  presbytery. 
Father  Sheehan  was  a man  in  broken  health  when  he  came,  and  scarcely  was 
he  in  the  new  home  when  he  died  in  April,  1880.  In  the  following  month 
Rev.  P.  B.  Phelan,  then  pastor  of  West  Springfield,  was  named  his  successor. 

Father  Phelan  was  obliged  to  lift  to  his  shoulders  $40,000  debt  when  he 
came.  The  whole  parish  income  was  but  $2700  annually,  but  so  well  did  he 
manage  and  so  energetically  did  he  labor  that  in  the  spring  of  1881  he  could 
see  his  way  towards  the  completion  of  the  church.  For  two  years  he  labored 
continuously,  and  in  June,  1883,  had  it  finished  and  furnished  with  marble 
altars,  an  organ,  stained  glass  windows  and  artistic  paintings.  It  was  dedi- 
cated by  Bishop  O’Reilly  the  third  day  of  that  month.  Rev.  Charles  E. 
Burke  preached  at  the  morning  service  and  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Conaty  in  the 
evening. 

Five  years  later  he  began  the  building  of  the  Sacred  Heart  school-house, 
which  was  to  consist  of  seven  rooms.  At  the  same  time  he  erected  the  con- 
vent fronting  on  Maple  street.  The  school  and  convent  were  ready  for  the 
sisters  and  pupils  against  the  opening  of  the  fall  school  term  that  year.  In 
1890  the  pastor  felt  obliged  to  double  the  capacity  of  his  schools.  The  build- 
ing now  has  fourteen  school  rooms  and  a large  hall  for  general  parish  pur- 
poses, wherein  a thousand  people  may  be  comfortably  seated.  When  the 
school  opened,  two  hundred  and  fifty  children  came  ; the  rolls  of  1898  show 
the  names  of  four  hundred  and  seventy-five  pupils.  The  course  has  nine 
grades,  the  cnstomary  grammar  grades.  There  are  twelve  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph 
employed  in  this  work. 

The  year  1897  was  Father  Phelan’s  jubilee  year.  He  was  then  twenty- 
five  years  a priest.  That  year  he  built  the  spire  above  the  church.  Meneely, 
of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  cast  at  his  order  a chime  of  ten  great  bells,  weighing  in  the 
aggregate  13,304  pounds.  Bishop  Beaven  blessed  the  bells  the  afternoon  of 
Sunday,  May  23  ; the  next  day  they  were  swung  in  the  bell  tower,  and  when 
the  morning  of  Tuesday,  the  anniversary,  broke  over  the  city,  the  dewy  air 
was  shaken  with  the  glad  clangor  of  their  mighty  iron  tongues  suddenly 
given  voice  in  jubilee.  The  day  the  bells  were  blessed  Bishop  Beaven  made 


90 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Father  Phelan  a permanent  rector.  Holyoke  alone  of  the  cities  in  our  diocese 
has  two  permanent  rectorships — St.  Jerome  and  the  Sacred  Heart.  When  we 
recall  the  great  debt  facing  Father  Phelan  at  his  coming,  less  than  twenty 
years  ago,  and  then  look  over  the  beautiful  property,  buildings  and  lawns, 
and  mark  the  taste  that  rules  everywhere  ; when,  too,  we  are  told  that  this 
parish  within  a year  has  been  canonically  made  a permanent  one,  thus  sup- 
posing a condition  nigh  to  completeness  and  self-support,  then  is  implied  to 
Father  Phelan’s  credit  all  the  commendation  that  a laborious  pastor  can  ever 
hope  to  earn. 

The  rector.  Rev.  P.  B.  Phelan,  was  born  in  St.John’s,  Newfoundland, 
January  i,  1846.  He  was  educated  in  the  schools  of  Worcester  and  at  Holy 
Cross  College,  whence  he  was  graduated  in  1869.  He  studied  theology  at 
Troy,  N.  Y.,  and  was  there  ordained  to  the  priesthood  May  5,  1872.  He  was 
first  appointed  assistant  to  Father  Harkins  at  Holyoke,  then  at  the  cathedral 
in  Springfield,  where  he  served  till  1877,  when  he  became  the  first  resident 
pastor  of  West  Springfield.  He  came  thence  to  Holyoke. 

Rev.  M.  E.  Purcell,  now  pastor  of  Greenfield,  was  the  first  curate  ap- 
pointed to  this  parish  ; he  served  until  October,  1880.  Rev.  P.  H.  Gallen  was 
appointed  October  i,  1881,  and  remained  till  May  i,  1883;  Rev.  W.  J.  Dower 
from  May  that  year  to  April,  1886  ; Rev.  John  F.  Eeonard  thenceforward  till 
December,  1893,  when  Rev.  P.  J.  Griffin  came  and  is  still  at  labor. 

Tlie  parish  has  increased  since  its  formation  to  a count  of  four  thousand 
four  hundred  souls.  The  people  generally  are  Irish  or  of  Irish  origin.  Up 
to  January  i,  1898,  there  were  three  thousand  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven 
baptisms,  eight  hundred  and  forty-two  marriages  and  thirty-five  conversions 
from  Protestantism.  The  parish  controls  the  pastor’s  residence,  convent,  the 
school  building,  all  in  brick  and  stone,  and  a cemetery  of  fourteen  acres  pur- 
chased in  1882,  and  consecrated  that  same  year  by  Bishop  O’Reilly  as  Cal- 
vary Cemetery. 

HOLY  ROSARY  PARISH, 

Holyoke. 

fEN  years  after  the  founding  of  the  parish  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  the 
number  of  the  English-speaking  Catholics  had  so  rapidly  increased 
that  Bishop  O’Reilly  felt  him.self  called  to  erect  another  parish  in 
Holyoke.  This  he  did  in  the  eastern  end  of  the  city  called  the  “Flats,”  and 
placed  Rev.  Michael  J.  Howard,  then  a curate  of  the  Sacred  Heart  church,  in 
Springfield,  the  pastor  in  charge,  March  26,  1886.  Father  Howard  had  already 
been  a curate  in  the  Church  of  the  Precious  Blood,  and  was  well  and  favora- 
bly known  in  the  city.  A few  days  after  his  coming  the  old  Second  Baptist 
church,  on  Main  street,  was  engaged,  and  therein  the  first.  Mass  in  the  new 
parish  was  said  by  him  on  Passion  Sunday,  April  ii,  1886.  Early  in  the 
summer  of  the  next  year  the  Ely  lot,  a square  bounded  by  Mosher,  West, 
Ely  and  Center  streets,  was  bought  and  the  work  on  the  new  church  begun. 
The  corner-stone  was  laid  on  the  22d  day  of  the  following  October.  Very 
R-ev.  Patrick  Healy,  V.  G.,  of  Chicopee,  officiated,  while  Rev.  James  McDer- 
mott preached  the  sermon. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


01 


The  superstructure  was  built,  and  the  basement,  ready  for  service,  was 
dedicated  by  Bishop  O’Reilly  August  26,  1888.  Rev.  John  J.  McCoy,  of 
Westboro,  preached  the  sermon.  Less  than  a month  from  the  dedication 
Father  Howard  died.  Indeed  he  was  dying  the  day  of  the  dedication, 
when  the  preacher  read  from  the  pulpit  the  dying  pastor’s  words  of  farewell 
to  his  people.  Father  Howard  was  a loss  to  his  parish  and  the  diocese. 
He  was  a man  of  unusual  mental  parts,  and  of  strong  and  amiable  charac- 
ter. He  sleeps  now  in  the  doorway  of  the  church  himself  had  built,  and  a 
fond  people  passing  every  hour  of  the  day  breathe  aves  for  the  peace  of  his 
soul. 

In  October  following  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  D.  Beaven,  of  Spencer,  was 
called  by  Bishop  O’Reilly  to  the  Holy  Rosary.  He  remained  the  pastor  till 
October,  1892,  when  Leo  XHI.  made  him  Bishop  of  Springfield.  In  his  pas- 
torate he  had  built  a beautiful  parochial  residence  and  nearly  completed  the 
church. 

When  Dr.  Beaven  built  the  presbytery  he  held  $13,000  in  a personal  note 
against  the  parish. 

In  July  of  the  present  year  Father  McGrath  received  from  the  Bishop 
this  note  cancelled,  bearing  date  of  cancellation,  the  day  of  his  consecration, 
October  i8th,  1892. 

The  church  was  frescoed  when  Father  McGrath  came,  in  October  of  the 
same  year,  and  the  wood  finish  of  the  interior  just  begun.  Father  McGrath  car- 
ried out  Dr.  Beaven’s  ideas,  and  with  characteristic  energy  so  pushed  the  work 
that  all  was  ready  for  dedication  December  10,  1893,  when  the  people  had 
the  rare  happiness  of  seeing  their  old  pastor,  now  a Bishop,  dedicate  the  tem- 
ple which  he  himself  had  helped  to  raise.  Rev.  Daniel  Feehan  preached 
the  sermon. 

When  the  parish  was  given  to  Father  Howard  there  were  1700  souls 
within  its  lines.  The  census  of  May,  1898  makes  the  amount  3489.  From 
the  parish  formation  to  January,  1898,  there  have  been  1 199  baptisms  and  254 
marriages.  No  special  record  has  been  kept  of  conversions.  The  parish 
property  comprises  a splendid  church,  in  brick  with  granite  trimmings,  whose 
interior  is  noted  throughout  the  diocese  for  its  exquisite  beauty  and  richness  ; 
a presbytery  in  brick  and  brown  stone  of  commodious  proportions,  artistic 
and  substantial,  a seven-tenement  block  (Barnes’  Block)  and  a cottage 
house. 

The  curates  have  been:  Rev.  Father  Dower,  from  June,  1886,  to 
December,  1891;  Rev.  J.  J.  Howard,  from  January,  1892,  to  October, 
1893;  Rev.  John  F.  Conlin,  from  October,  1893,  and  is  still  on  duty; 
Rev.  William  Ryan,  from  October,  1893,  to  his  removal  to  Pittsfield,  October 
22,  1897. 

Father  McGrath  is  a man  of  exceptional  capacity  in  business  affairs,  and 
in  the  management  of  parish  finances.  It  is  everywhere  acknowledged  that 
he  has  taste  in  an  uncommon  degree,  and  whatever  he  has  put  his  hands  to 
in  church  building  has  been  so  well  done  as  to  win  for  him  the  admiration  of 
the  judicious. 


92 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


OUR  LADY  OF  PERPETUAL  HELP  PARISH, 

Holyoke. 

IN  the  spring  of  1890  the  Canadian  Catholics  had  outgrown  the  accommo- 
dations furnished  by  the  parish  of  the  “Precious  Blood,”  and  Bishop 
O’Reilly  set  apart  in  the  north  end  of  the  city  a new  parish,  “Our 
Lady  of  Perpetual  Help.”  Rev.  C.  E.  Brunault  was  appointed  the  first 
resident  pastor,  with  Rev.  W.  Alexander  as  assistant.  The  first  Mass  was 
said  in  “Temperance  Hall,”  on  Maple  street,  May  25,  1890,  by  Father 
Alexander,  and  High  Mass  was  celebrated  the  same  day  by  the  pastor,  Rev. 
C.  E Brunault.  The  parish  was  large  from  the  beginning,  4,chx)  souls 
were  counted  within  its  lines;  to-day  there  is  beyond  4,500,  and  all  the  peo- 
ple are  of  Canadian  birth  or  origin.  From  May,  1890,  to  May,  1898,  there 
have  been  1,587  baptisms,  366  marriages  and  3 conversions  from  Protest- 
antism. 

A magnificent  building,  which  serves  as  church  and  school  and  con- 
vent, on  the  corner  of  Maple  and  Prospect  streets,  was  completed  in  1891, 
according  to  the  plans  drawn  by  architect  F.  S.  Newman,  of  Springfield. 
Joseph  Hebert,  of  Northampton,  was  the  builder  in  charge.  The  ground 
measure  of  the  building  is  70  by  117  feet,  and  the  height,  from  the  sidewalk 
to  the  apex  of  tower,  no  feet.  The  structure  is  built  of  brown  stone  to  the 
base  of  the  fir.st-story  windows,  and  above  that  of  brick,  with  brown  stone 
and  terra  cotta  trimmings.  The  architectural  lines  of  the  building  closely 
follow  the  classic  models  of  Greece. 

Father  Brunault,  as  before  him  did  Father  McDermott,  of  Springfield, 
actually  built  the  school  before  the  church,  firmly  believing  that  there  was 
as  great  a necessity  for  good  schools  as  for  the  church  itself ; his  people  have 
always  been  of  one  heart  with  him  in  this  matter,  and  have  helped  him  gen- 
erously in  his  undertaking.  Since  the  opening  of  the  school  in  September, 
1891,  there  has  been  an  average  attendance  of  seven  hundred  children,  who 
are  divided  into  nine  grades.  The  Sisters  of  the  Presentation  of  Mary,  whose 
Mother-house  is  in  France,  but  whose  Provincial-house  is  at  St.  Hyacinthe, 
P.  Q.,  are  in  charge.  Their  course  of  studies,  leading  the  children  through 
all  the  grammar  grades,  is  acknowledged  as  first-class. 

The  first  floor  of  the  building  serves  the  people  as  a chapel.  There  are 
three  altars  herein,  given  by  prominent  members  of  the  parish,  an  excellent 
pipe  organ,  built  by  Cassand  Freres,  and  donated  by  other  members ; while 
the  Stations  of  the  Cross,  the  several  statues  and  stained  glass  windows  which 
beautify  the  whole  place  are  likewise  the  free-gift  oflFerings  of  individuals  in 
the  congregation. 

The  second  and  third  floors  are  divided  into  school-rooms  and  living- 
rooms  for  the  Sisters,  and  a large  auditorium  fitted  up  with  stage  and  acces- 
sories for  school  exhibitions  and  parish  entertainments.  Besides  this  building 
the  parish  owns,  on  the  corner  of  Maple  and  Fountain  streets,  the  old  “ Mc- 
Coy homestead,”  which,  in  1896,  Father  Brunault  remodeled  and  made  into 
a commodious  and  pleasant  presbytery  ; and  between  the  presbytery  and 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


93 


chapel  he  controls  four  tenement  houses,  comprising  twenty-two  tenements, 
while  in  South  Hadley  Falls  there  are  fourteen  acres  of  land  set  apart  for  a 
cemetery. 

The  curates  have  been  Rev.  W.  L.  Alexander,  from  the  first  day  of  the 
parish  life  to  the  present  (1899);  Rev.  N.  St.  Cyr,  from  May,  1892,  to  Novem- 
ber the  same  year;  Rev.  L.  Geoffrey,  who  came  in  November,  1897,  and  is 
still  doing  duty. 

The  people  of  this  parish  stand  well  in  the  business  and  social  life  of 
the  city,  and  wield,  with  their  confreres  of  the  “ Precious  Blood,”  a very  con- 
.siderable  political  influence ; this  is  continually  growing,  as  the  people 
advance  in  education  and  allow  themselves  to  be  led  by  their  priests  to  seek 
citizenship  with  its  attendant  benefits  and  responsibilities.  Some  of  the 
highest  offices  in  the  gift  of  the  city  are  fllled  by  Canadian  Catholics,  and  to 
the  honor  of  this  whole  people,  let  it  be  said  that  such  offices  have  won  for 
their  name  honest  commendation.  They  appear  to  know  how  to  unite  for 
political,  racial  and  religious  purposes ; and,  providing  that  in  the  coming 
years  they  are  wisely  led,  in  keeping  with  respect  for  right  authority,  a great 
future  awaits  them  in  Holyoke. 

Rev.  C.  E.  Brunault  was  born  in  the  parish  of  St.  David,  P.  Q.,  in  i860. 
He  made  his  classical  studies  at  Nicolet  College,  and  was  ordained  to  the 
priesthood  at  St.  Hyacinthe  in  1883.  He  was  assistant  to  Father  Dufresne  in 
Holyoke  in  1884,  and  after  fourteen  months’  service  here  was  made  the  pastor 
of  the  French  people  of  Gardner.  At  the  end  of  a three  years’  pastorate  there 
he  was  recalled  to  Holyoke  to  build  the  parish  of  Our  Lady  of  Perpetual  Help. 

Father  Brunault  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  most  capable  of  the  Canadian 
pastors.  He  is  energetic  and  eloquent.  No  priest  in  Holyoke  has  ever  done 
more  in  the  same  length  of  time  for  the  reflnement  and  general  elevation  of 
his  people  than  he.  He  is  an  especially  gifted  musician,  has  formed  and 
directs  with  marked  skill  the  several  parish  literary  and  musical  organiza- 
tions, in  which  work  he  is  ably  assisted  by  Father  Geoffroy,  himself  a trained 
musician.  It  was  the  artist  in  Father  Brunault  that  determined  the  choice 
of  site  for  his  church;  and  from  his  towers  to  day  one’s  eyes  may  sweep 
twenty  miles  of  river,  and  farms  and  mountains,  whose  faces  change  every 
hour  he  looks,  as  the  constantly  shifting  clouds  throw  out  their  newer  lights 
or  their  deeper  shadows  while  sailing  to  the  far  horizon. 

So  much  has  been  done,  and  in  so  brief  a space,  that  naturally  the  parish 
carries  a considerable  debt,  but  such  is  the  spirit  of  union  and  co-operation, 
that  the  pastor  does  not  hesitate  to  say  ” all  is  in  a healthy  and  safe  condition.” 


CHURCH  OF  THE  POLES— MATER  DOLOROSA, 

Holyoke. 


N September  26,  1896,  Bishop  Beaven  made  the  Rev.  Anthony  M. 
Sikorski  the  first  resident  pastor  of  the  Polish  people  of  Holyoke. 
Father  Chalupka,  of  Chicopee,  had  cared  for  them  from  his  coming 
into  the  diocese  until  that  date.  The  trouble  between  some  of  the 
Poles  of  Chicopee  and  their  pastor,  which  in  1896  culminated  in  the  unhappy 


94 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


“independent  churcli,”  had  its  exemplar,  if  not  its  actual  beginning,  here. 
A certain  “Reverend  ’’  Dynia,  who,  after  disgracing  his  sacred  calling  in  his 
native  Poland,  had  been  unfrocked  there,  came  in  his  subsequent  wan- 
derings here.  Finding  here  some  dissatisfied  spirits  he  urged  them  to  rebel- 
lion, put  himself  at  their  head,  and  bade  defiance  to  the  bishop.  In  a little 
while,  however,  the  serpent  in  him  showed  its  fangs.  He  was  apprehended 
by  the  police  for  drunkenness  and  worse,  and  driven  from  the  city.  But  he 
had  already  done  great  harm.  He  had  set  the  people  at  variance.  Some  of 
their  leaders  were  violent  in  his  support,  and  against  right  authority,  while 
others  were  no  less  fiery  in  his  condemnation.  Divided  in  sympathy,  and 
distracted  by  the  general  clamor,  the  bulk  of  the  simple  people  ceased  attend- 
ing any  service  of  religion,  and  so  were  drifting  into  dangerous  ways  when 
Father  Sikorski  was  sent  to  them.  He  says  that  there  were  but  nine  people 
still  faithful  when  he  came.  Now  three  hundred  and  twenty,  from  a shifting 
population  of  five  hundred,  are  regular  attendants  at  Mass  and  the  sacraments. 

As  yet  they  have  no  church  property.  The  priest  rents  the  house  num- 
bered 79  on  Bowers  street  as  a presbytery,  and  all  public  services  are  held  in 
the  basement  of  the  church  of  the  Rosary. 

The  laws  obtaining  iu  Poland  require  that  all  documents  relative  to  bap- 
tisms, marriages,  etc.,  without  which  a returning  Pole  has  no  standing  in  his 
old  home,  must  be  stamped  with  the  parish  seal.  To  comply  with  this  need, 
and  because  he  hopes  so  to  call  the  church  which  he  prays  God  to  enable 
him  some  day  to  build.  Father  Sikorski  has  given  his  congregation  the  name 
of  the  “ Sorrowing  Mother  ” — Mater  Dolorosa. 

From  his  coming  there  have  been  164  baptisms  and  62  marriages.  The 
people  are  poor,  and  work  in  the  mills — the  Lyman  mills  above  all  others. 
Their  representation  in  business  life  is  limited  to  two  grocers  and  two  butchers. 

Anthony  Marcellus  Sikorski,  the  pastor,  was  born  in  the  city  of  Opole, 
Province  of  Lublin  in  Russian  Poland,  October  27,  1837.  He  studied  at 
Warsaw,  and  was  ordained  at  Plock  by  Bishop  Alexander  Gintoptt,  August 
I,  1875. 

ST.  MICHAEL’S  CHURCH, 

Longmeadow. 

(5  I HE  first  mass  recorded  in  the  parish  of  Longmeadow  was  said  by  Rev. 

^ I Patrick  Healy,  then  acting  pastor  of  Springfield,  in  October,  1870. 

It  was  said  in  the  present  church  of  St.  Mary,  which  was  originally  a 
shop  for  the  manufacture  of  spectacles.  Mass  was  said  therein  once  a month 
until  1883,  when  Father  Pelletier  was  made  pastor  of  Mittineague,  and  given 
East  and  West  Longmeadow  as  missions.  In  1885  Father  Pelletier  was  made 
pastor  of  the  ehurch  of  the  Assumption  in  Chicopee,  and  the  Meadows  knew 
the  service  of  the  Rev.  Father  Campeau  till  1888.  Father  Biron  then  had 
charge  for  a year  and  a half,  and  was  succeeded  by  Father  Bonneville,  pastor 
for  three  years,  who  in  turn  was  followed  by  Rev.  Humphrey  J.  Wren.  He 
served  from  July,  1893,  to  January,  1894.  Rev.  Anthony  Dwyer,  the  first  resi- 
dent pastor,  was  appointed  in  January,  1894,  and  yet  serves  the  people. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


95 


The  church  in  East  Longmeadow  was  built  in  1887,  and  seats  300  people. 
The  whole  parish  numbers  something  more  than  400  souls.  There  are  thirty 
Irish  and  two  French  families  in  Longmeadow  proper,  but  in  East  Long- 
meadow  the  French  people  are  largely  in  excess. 

Since  1894  to  December,  1898,  there  have  been  130  baptisms  and  18 
marriages,  and  this  year  two  conversions  from  Protestantism.  The  parish 
has  two  churches,  a barn,  a horse  shed  near  each  church,  a parish  house  and 
two  acres  of  land.  The  house  and  land  were  purchased  by  Father  Dwyer  in 
1895  ; the  house,  which  was  originally  the  Congregational  parsonage,  was 
fitted  up  into  a cozy  home  for  the  pastor. 

The  people  are  honest  and  hard-working,  and  get  their  livelihood  in  the 
quarries,  the  mill  and  on  the  farms.  They  have  small  influence,  politically 
or  socially. 

Father  Dwyer  was  born  in  Worcester,  Mass.,  March  3,  1863,  was  edu- 
cated at  Holy  Cross,  Worcester,  and  at  Nicolet  College,  in  Canada.  He 
studied  theology  at  the  Seminary  of  Three  Rivers,  Canada,  and  was  ordained 
in  Springfield,  by  Bishop  O’Reilly,  September  22,  1886.  He  was  the  rector 
of  the  Church  of  Northboro  and  Shrewsbury,  before  being  made  the  pastor 
of  Longmeadow,  and  before  this  served  as  curate  in  Grafton,  Uxbridge, 
Ware,  Holyoke  and  South  Hadley  Falls. 

There  were  Catholics  in  Longmeadow  before  the  people  who  now  make 
up  the  parish.  Eunice  Williams,  who  had  been  taken  by  the  Indians  at  the 
sack  of  Deerfield,  had  grown  to  womanhood  among  them  and  had  married  an 
Iroquois  chieftain.*  With  her  husband,  her  two  children  and  some  friends  she 
visited  her  brother.  Rev.  Eleazar  Williams,  the  first  pastor  of  Longmeadow,^ 
in  September,  1740,  and  several  times  thereafter,  even  as  late  as  1761,  but  never 
could  be  induced,  though  a grant  of  land  was  promised  her  by  the  General 
Court,  to  remain.  She  was  a devout  Catholic,  and  “refused  on  the  ground  that 
it  would  endanger  her  soul.”  Her  grandson,  Thomas  Williams,  in  1800  brought 
his  two  sons,  John  and  Eleazer,  to  be  educated  in  Longmeadow.  After  a while 
John,  who  was  very  much  an  Indian,  returned  to  his  father’s  lodge  at  Caugh- 
nawaga ; but  Eleazer  remaining,  lost  his  faith.  He  afterwards  became  an  Epis- 
copal minister,  and  was  sent  as  missionary  to  the  Oneidas  at  Green  Bay,  Wis- 
consin. This  man  was  afterwards  the  subject  of  aii  extraordinary  romance 
wherein  credulous  people  hailed  him  as  Louis  XVH.,  the  Dauphin  of  France. 


ST.  PATRICK’S  CHURCH, 

Monson. 


^rp^EV.  J.  J.  DOHERTY,  then  pastor  of  Springfield,  said  the  first  Mass  in 
I Monson,  on  Sunday,  September  8,  1850.  It  was  said  in  a “ store- 

^ house  ” of  the  woolen  mills  in  South  Monson.  This  building  was 
afterwards  swept  away  by  a flood.  There  were  few  Catholic  families 
then  resident  of  the  town  ; but  a large  body  of  Catholic  men  were  employed 


*J-  G.  Holland,  Hist.  Western  Mass.,  V.  i,  p.  155. 

* “ Two  Centuries  and  a Half  in  Longmeadow,’’  New  Eng.  Mag.,  July,  1888,  pp.  586, 
587  and  594. 


9G 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


in  the  building  of  the  New  lyondon  and  Northern  Railroad,  and  they  made 
up  the  major  part  of  the  first  congregation.  During  the  twelve  years  follow- 
ing Mass  was  celebrated  twice  or  thrice  each  year,  or  oftener,  as  Father 
Blenkinsop,  who  had  charge  of  the  many  missions  of  the  neighborhood,  found 
it  possible.  From  1862  Rev.  Patrick  Healy,  then  of  Ware,  came  to  this  vil- 
lage once  a month.  When  Thorndike  was  made  a parish,  Monson  was  at- 
tached as  a mission,  and  Mass  was  celebrated  here  once  in  a fortnight.  On 
Christmas  Eve,  1862,  Father  Healy  bought  land  for  a new  church.  He  began 
the  building  in  June,  1863.  The  first  Mass  was  said  within  its  walls  on 
Palm  Sunday,  1864.  It  was  dedicated  in  August  of  the  same  year.  The 
church  is  of  Monson  granite  and  cost  ^13,500.  Monson,  having  as  missions 
Hampden  and  Wales,  was  made  a parish  September  2,  1878,  with  Rev.  Jere- 
miah McCarthy  as  the  first  resident  pastor. 

During  the  three  years  of  Father  McCarthy’s  incumbency,  from  Sep- 
tember, 1878,  to  1881,  he  did  marvelous  work.  He  purchased  for  the  parish  a 
presbytery  and  cemetery,  terraced  the  gp-ounds  about  the  church  and  put  in 
place  the  forty-two  stone  steps  that  lead  from  Main  street  to  the  church  door. 
The  church  itself  he  frescoed,  beautified  with  stained  glass  windows,  put  in 
the  tower  a clock  and  bell,  and  added  to  the  dignity  of  worship  by  the  intro- 
duction of  a beautiful  pipe  organ.  That  same  year  he  built  the  pretty  frame 
church  in  Hampden,  at  a cost  less  than  |2,ooo.  When  he  left  the  parish 
three  years  later  there  was  a debt  of  but  $400  remaining.  His  successors  in 
the  pastorate  have  been  Rev.  James  H.  Kelly,  from  September,  1881,  to 
August,  1885  ; Rev.  John  F.  Lee,  from  August,  1885,  to  November,  1894, 
and  the  present  pastor.  Rev.  Thomas  O’Keefe. 

Father  Lee,  in  1888,  sold  the  priest’s  house  and  land  purchased  by 
Father  McCarthy  and  built  the  present  splendid  presbytery.  The  curates  of 
this  parish  have  been  Revs.  William  J.  Long,  from  September,  1884,  to  Sep- 
tember, 1885;  William  C.  McCanghan,  from  January,  1886,  to  August, 
1889  ; H.  J.  Wren,  from  August,  1889,  to  July,  1890  ; William  E.  Foley,  from 
July,  1890,  to  April,  1893;  D.  Mullins,  from  April,  1893,  to  December,  1894; 
John  S.  Nelligan,  from  December,  1894,  to  June,  1898,  and  Francis  Riley, 
from  June,  1898,  who  is  still  at  labor. 

There  were  about  fifteen  hundred  souls  in  the  parish  when  first  formed. 
In  the  decade  of  years  after  1880  they  increased  close  to  three  hundred.  But 
the  burning  of  the  mills  threw  many  out  of  employment,  and  now  there  are 
but  fourteen  hundred  altogether.  The  people  are  Irish  either  in  birth  or 
blood.  There  have  been  1731  baptisms  since  1878,  197  marriages  and  twelve 
conversions  from  Protestantism. 

The  grounds  about  the  church  in  this  parish  are  spacious  and  beautifully 
laid  out.  The  buildings,  church  and  presbytery,  are  of  Monson  granite; 
there  is  a parish-house  wherein  the  children  are  taught  catechism  and  the 
church  societies  hold  their  meetings;  nearby  there  is  a barn  and  a sexton’s 
house. 

The  town  is  singularly  free  from  religious  bigotry.  Some  of  the  best 
positions  in  the  gift  of  the  public  are  occupied  by  Catholics.  The  chief  in- 


Rev.  J.  E.  MARCOUX. 


Rev.  \V.  J POWER. 


Rev.  william  H.  HART. 


Rev.  H.  HAMELIN. 


Rev.  a.  E.  DWYER. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


97 


dustries  of  the  town  are  under  the  active  management  of  Catholics.  “ In 
politics,”  says  the  pastor,  “we  can  be  represented  on  any  board  of  town  of- 
ficers, although  the  Protestant  vote  is  to  the  Catholic  as  three  to  one.  Socially, 
our  people  stand  well  with  their  neighbors,  and  in  no  manufacturing  town 
can  there  be  found  more  thrift  or  pride  in  self  and  surroundings  ; but  above 
all  they  are  devoted  to  their  church,  are  interested  in  its  every  work  and  are 
ready  at  all  times  to  make  any  necessary  sacrifice.” 

Rev.  Thomas  O’Keefe,  the  present  pastor,  was  born  in  Ware,  Mass.,  Jan- 
uary 3,  i860,  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  and  graduated  from  Holy 
Cross  College  in  1880.  Immediately  upon  ordination  in  December,  1883,  he 
was  appointed  assistant  to  his  brother  at  West  Springfield,  and  there  remained 
until  his  appointment  to  the  pastorate  of  Monson.  Since  assuming  charge  of 
Monsou  he  has  acquired  considerable  influence  in  the  town  life,  and  is  looked 
upon  by  his  neighbors  and  his  brethren  in  the  priesthood  as  a capable  pastor. 


ST.  THOMAS’  CHURCH  AND  NORTH  WIDBRAHAM  MISSION, 

Palmer. 

^ALMER  was  settled  as  early  as  1727  by  a colony  of  immigrants  from 
the  north  of  Ireland.  They  were  Presbyterians  in  faith.  The  first 
Catholic  service  of  which  we  have  any  knowledge  was  during  the 
building  of  the  Western  Road,  “ when,”  says  Father  Fitton  in  his 
“ Sketches,”  “stations  were  held  at  Spencer,  Brookfield,  Warren  and  Palmer.” 
Most  of  the  Catholic  people  moved  westward  with  the  work.  There  was  not, 
therefore,  in  Palmer,  until  1850,  a sufficient  number  to  warrant  the  regular 
attendance  of  a priest.  But  in  the  very  late  fall  of  that  year  Father  William 
Blenkinsop,  pastor  of  Cabotville  (Chicopee),  said  Mass  in  the  old  “Dry- 
House  ” of  the  Thorndike  Manufacturing  Company.  The  Catholics  gathered 
for  this  Mass  from  Palmer,  Three  Rivers,  Thorndike,  Bondsville  and  Mon- 
son. Father  Blenkinsop  attended  the  people  twice  a month  for  close  to  a 
year. 

Father  P.  V.  Moyce  was  the  first  resident  pastor.  He  came  in  1864  and 
was  succeeded,  in  the  following  year,  by  Father  Lasco,  who  remained  but 
one  month.  After  Father  Lasco  came  Rev.  J.  A.  Molinari,  who  served  from 
1865  till  July,  1867,  when  Rev.  A.  Rossi  succeeded  him  and  remained  as  pas- 
tor till  the  fall  of  1869.  In  October,  1869,  came  Rev.  Francis  J.  Lynch,  who, 
on  the  first  day  of  July,  1878,  was  made  pastor  of  Thorndike.  Rev.  T.  J. 
Sullivan  succeeded  him  the  same  month  and  remained  till  June,  1889.  Upon 
Father  Sullivan’s  promotion  to  Uxbridge,  in  June,  1889,  Rev.  William  H. 
Hart  came,  and  is  yet  the  pastor.  The  assistants  in  this  parish  from  1869  to 
1878  were  Revs.  John  B.  Daley,  Terrence  Smith  and  James  H.  Kelly.  Father 
Hart  has  had  as  curates  Revs.  Thomas  McDonald,  for  three  months;  Thomas 
F.  Purcell  for  as  long  a period,  and  Thomas  S.  Donohue  since  August,  1 892. 

The  parish  has  800  souls.  The  majority  are  of  Irish  birth  or  origin, 
though  some  few  are  Canadians.  There  has  been,  since  the  formation  of  the 
parish,  up  to  January,  1898,  2423  baptisms,  458  marriages  and  5 conversions 
from  Protestantism.  North  Wilbraham,  the  “mission”  of  Palmer,  has  a 


98 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGFIELD. 


church  built  by  Father  Hart  in  1891.  The  Catholics  have  church  and  pres- 
bytery, extensive  grounds  and  church  on  the  mission. 

Father  Hart,  the  pastor,  is  a man  of  delicate  constitution,  who  spends 
his  days  with  his  books  or  in  the  quiet  performance  of  his  pastoral  work. 
“My  people,”  he  writes,  “stand  well  in  the  community,  are  represented  in 
the  business  and  social  life,  and  exercise  an  acknowledged  political  in- 
fluence.” 

ST.  MICHAEL’S  CATHEDRAL, 

Springfield. 


IN  a “list  of  the  inhabitants  of  Springfield,  from  1636  to  1664,”  published 
in  1839,  by  John  Warner  Barber,  we  read  the  following  Irish  names: 
William  Blake,  Matthew  Mitchell,  John  Leonard,  Francis  Ball,  John 
Harmon,  John  Mathews,  William  Jess,  Miles  Morgan,  John  Clarke, 
Francis  Pepper,  Thomas  Day  and  John  Riley. 

To-day  we  do  not  know  that  these  men  were  Catholics  in  faith,  nor  can 
we  now  learn  ; but  that  Catholics  may  have  been  among  them  is  not  unlikely, 
for  some  of  the  names  are  those  borne  commonly  by  Irish  Catholic  people.  If 
any  were  Catholics,  however,  it  is  certain  that  they  lost  the  faith,  for  in  the 
next  century  (1789)  a “third  parish  in  West  Springfield”  was  incorporated. 
“This  place,”  says  Barber,  “has  been  usually  called  Ireland  from  the  cir- 
cumstance, it  is  said,  that  several  Irish  families  were  among  the  earliest  set- 
tlers in  this  part  of  the  town.” 

The  same  authority  copied  an  inscription  on  a monument  in  the  ancient 
grave-yard  of  Springfield:  “Here  lies  interred  the  body  of  Mr.  John  Malle- 
fuild,  a French  gentleman,  who,  passing  through  the  town  of  Springfield, 
dying,  bequeathed  all  his  estate  to  the  poor  of  this  town.”  He  died  Novem- 
ber 26,  171 1. 

“The  Catholics  at  Springfield,”  says  Father  Fitton  in  his  “Sketches,” 
“were  represented  in  1830  by  three  families  and  a few  unmarried  men,  who 
were  visited  by  the  missionary  (himself)  in  connection  with  the  few  living  at 
Thompsonville,  Westfield,  Chicopee  and  other  River  towns,  once  every  two 
or  three  months,  as  circumstances  permitted,  when  Mass  was  offered  and  the 
Holy  Sacraments  administered  in  whatever  house  was  found  to  be  the  most 
convenient.” 

Mrs.  Timothy  Kennefick,  then  a girl  of  twenty  years,  came  to  Spring- 
field  in  1834.  She  remembers  a Mass  said  in  the  spring  of  1835  by  Rev.  John 
Brady,  of  Hartford,  in  the  home  of  a Mr.  Sullivan,  who  then  lived  close  to 
the  Water  Shops  on  lower  Hancock  street.  This  house  was  destroyed  by  fire 
eight  years  ago.  There  were  the  following  persons  present  at  the  Mass: 
John  and  Denis  Sullivan,  with  their  wives,  the  narrator  (Mrs.  Kennefick), 
Daniel  Teehan  and  wife,  Bartholomew  McDermott,  Peter  Quin,  Martin 
White,  Patrick  Hines  and  Andrew  Woods.  Mr.  Hines,  with  his  family  of 
seven  or  more  children,  and  Mr.  Sullivan,  with  his,  in  whose  house  the  Mass 
was  said,  are  two  of  the  earliest  Catholic  families  in  Springfield.  Strictly 
speaking  this  last  Mass  should  be  called  the  first  Mass,  since  most  authori- 


ST.  MICHAEL’S  CATHEDRAL, 
Springfield,  Mass. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


99 


ties  agree  that  the  Mass  spoken  of  in  the  time  of  Father  Fitton,  in  1830,  was 
said  in  Cabotville,  then,  but  not  now,  a part  of  Springfield. 

The  armory  of  the  United  States  was  established  at  Springfield  in  1795. 
This,  with  the  construction  of  the  Western  Railroad,  later  on,  made  Spring- 
field  a place  of  great  importance.  The  road  brought  here  numbers  of  the 
faithful.  Father  Brady  said  Mass,  when  possible,  in  the  houses  of  his  people. 
The  old  inhabitants  remember  two  Masses  said  in  the  houses  of  Patrick 
Whalen,  on  Hampden,  and  Edward  Beahn,  on  Ferry  street.  Mass  was  also 
said  in  houses  on  Emerald  street,  then  the  centre  of  the  Irish  population. 
This  street  was  abolished  ; it  ran  parallel  to  Dwight  street.  The  people  wor- 
shiped in  the  town  hall  on  State  street,  rented  by  Rev.  John  Brady.  In  1845 
a lot  of  land,  a site  for  a church,  was  bought  on  the  armory  grounds  by 
Father  Brady,  over  which  there  was  fought  an  unhappy  legal  battle.  Until 
about  1840  Springfield  was  a mission  of  Chicopee  or  Hartford.  On  Septem- 
ber 27,  of  that  year.  Rev.  George  Reardon,  who  had  been  assistant  to  Rev. 
John  Brady,  of  Hartford,  was  appointed  by  the  bishop  to  the  care  of  Spring- 
field.  October  22  he  announced  to  Bishop  Fitzpatrick  that  he  had  secured  a 
church  lot  for  $yoo.  On  September  7,  1846,  the  Catholics  bought  another 
lot  on  Union  street  for  $1000.  The  same  day  Father  Reardon  tells  Bishop 
Fitzpatrick  that  the  Baptist  Society  of  Springfield  proposed  to  the  Catholics 
the  sale  of  their  meeting-house,  a frame  building,  at  a cost  of  $4,000.  This 
building  was  in  excellent  repair  and  measured  70  by  45  feet.  At  the  priest’s 
invitation  the  bishop  came  to  Springfield.  On  the  15th  of  the  next  month 
he  approved  of  the  property,  and  bade  the  priest  make  the  purchase.  At  a 
cost  of  $3,500  Father  Reardon  was  able  to  purchase  the  building  from  George 
Dwight,  who  contracted  with  him  to  move  the  building  from  Mulberry  to 
the  Union  street  lot;  to  leave  the  furniture,  bell  and  furnace  intact;  to  place 
the  church  property  on  a sound  foundation;  to  deliver  to  the  priest  a war- 
rantee deed,  and  guarantee  everything  safe  and  in  good  condition;  and  to  so 
keep  it  for  one  year.  This  building,  after  its  sale,  was  made  over  into  tene- 
ments, and  now  stands  on  Union  street. 

At  this  time,  in  the  Springfield  armory,  there  was  a young  officer.  Lieu- 
tenant Scammon,  one  of  a half  hundred  gallant  officers  of  the  army  and  navy, 
many  of  them  converts  to  the  church,  who  were  members  of  the  Sodality  of 
the  Sacred  Heart,  of  which  General  Rosecrans  was  the  promoter.  Lieutenant 
Scammon,  with  taste  and  beauty,  designed  the  sanctuary,  altar  and  tabernacle 
in  the  remodeled  church.  On  Quinquagesima  Sunday,  February  14,  1847, 
Right  Rev.  Bishop  Fitzpatrick  dedicated  the  church  to  the  service  of  God 
under  the  patronage  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mother  and  St.  Benedict.  The 
bishop  said  the  Mass,  Rev.  Father  Logan,  S.J.,  being  assistant  priest ; Rev. 
J.  J.  Williams,  now  the  Archbishop  of  Boston,  Rev.  Cornelius  O’Brien  and 
Rev.  George  Reardon,  together  with  a student  from  Holy  Cross  named 
Crowley,  made  up  the  choir.  Father  Rider,  President  of  the  College  of  Holy 
Cross,  preached  twice  that  day.  At  the  Mass  he  had  for  his  subject  “The 
Sacrifice  of  the  Mass,”  and  in  the  evening  “The  Real  Presence.”  Rev. 
John  D.  Brady,  of  Cabotville,  was  present  at  the  exercises.  In  October  27,  of 


100 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


the  following  year,  we  find  the  interesting  fact  that  for  a consideration  of  $140 
a parcel  of  land  on  Emery  street  was  conveyed  by  Bishop  Fitzpatrick  to 
Thomas  Beaven.  This  Thomas  Beaven  is  the  father  of  the  present  bishop, 
and  yet  (in  June,  1899)  is  still  living,  hale  and  strong. 

Father  Reardon  was  a very  active  man.  Immediately  after  the  dedica- 
tion of  the  church  he  organized  a Sunday-school,  over  which  Lieutenant 
Scammon  was  superintendent.  The  teapherswere  Bartholomew  McDermott, 
Thomas  Kane,  Michael  IVIurray,  Daniel  Toomey,  Edward  Beahn,  and  some 
Catholic  young  women  of  the  congregation.  The  basement  of  the  church  was 
fitted  up  for  school  purposes  and  for  meetings  of  the  different  societies.  In  the 
winter  months  there  was  an  evening  school  for  the  instruction  of  adults  in 
reading  and  writing.  Every  Saturday  afternoon  in  the  same  place  the  young 
women  of  the  congregation  were  taught  sewing  and  kindred  accomplishments. 

Two  years  after  the  dedication  of  St.  Benedict’s  church  the  people  had 
increased  very  considerably,  fully  four  hundred  coming  to  the  parish  in  the 
summer  months.  At  this  time  was  formed  the  first  parish  society,  the  Rosary, 
of  which  both  men  and  women  were  members.  They  were  of  great  assistance 
to  the  parish.  They  taught  the  children  of  the  Sunday-school,  and  collected 
funds  throughout  the  parish  to  pay  the  church  debt.  In  1849  and  1850  they 
collected  $909. 

The  first  baptism  recorded  on  the  register  of  St.  Benedict’s  parish.  Spring- 
field,  was  that  of  Thomas  Timlin,  March  28,  1846,  by  Father  Reardon.  He 
writes  just  above’the  entry:  “Former  baptisms  were  registered  in  the  books 
of  Hartford  and  Cabotville,”  to  which  missions  Springfield  had  up  to  this  date 
been  attached. 

Father  Reardon,  pastor  of  Springfield,  was  never,  strictly  speaking,  the 
resident  pastor.  He  lived  on  Franklin  street,  Worcester,  Mass.,  in  a small 
house  near  the  residence  of  Rev.  James  Fitton.  He  had  missions  as  far  east  as 
Saxonville,  with  West  Boylston,  towards  Fitchburg;  and  Ware,  Monson, 
and  Brookfield,  towards  the  w'est.  To  reach  them  he  found  Worcester  more 
central  than  Springfield.  Frequently  at  this  period  he  had  the  help  of  Father 
Logan,  a Jesuit  priest,  who  was  professor  in  the  College  of  the  Holy  Cross, 
and  who  came  to  Springdield  when  Father  Reardon  was  elsewhere  on  the  mis- 
sions. Father  Reardon  was  the  pastor  of  St.  Benedict’s  church  for  two  years, 
and  after  leaving  Springfield  was  made  the  pastor  of  a parish  in  western  New 
York.  He  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  John  Jnlius  Dougherty,  who  came  from 
Boston  in  1848  and  remained  until  1851.  We  find  record  of  the  purchase  of 
a house  on  Howard  street  by  Father  Dougherty  from  Noah  Porter,  December 
8,  1848.  The  price  paid  was  $3,000.  He  was,  in  reality,  the  first  resident 
pastor  of  whom  we  find  record.  He  lived  here  until  his  going  to  Worcester 
in  1851.  From  Worcester,  after  two  years  of  labor,  he  was  transferred  to 
Philadelphia,  and  was  appointed  to  the  Chambersburg  parish,  which  embraced 
Carlisle,  Waynesboro,  and  Concord.  He  built  a neat  brick  church  at  Con- 
cord. In  1855  he  was  transferred  to  Towanda,  Bradford  county,  and  in  1859 
was  given  the  care  of  the  Honesdale  parish,  where  he  ministered  till  his  death, 
thirty-seven  years  afterwards.  In  a public  print  of  the  day,  taking  an  account 


BISHOP’S  RESIDENCE, 
Springfield,  Mass. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


101 


of  his  death,  we  find  this  eulogy  : “ Under  Father  Dougherty’s  administration 
St.  John’s  church,  of  Honesdale,  has  emerged  from  obscurity  into  recognized 
prominence  as  a restraining  and  elevating  moral  power.  The  people  are  sober, 
frugal,  industrious,  self-disciplined,  respectful,  and  respected.  The  youth  are 
educated,  and  contribute  a respectable  quota  to  the  professional  careers.” 
Father  Dougherty  left  to  Catholic  charities  at  his  death  ^14,000.  An  inter- 
esting item  in  his  bequest  was  the  $500  given  to  the  House  of  the  Good  Shep- 
herd in  Springfield.  He  died  deeply  regretted  by  the  community  he  had 
served  so  long. 

In  the  Springfield  records  of  1850  and  1851  we  find  mention  made  of  the 
missions  attended  by  Father  Dougherty,  namely : Saxonville,  Framingham, 
Natick,  Sudbury,  Stowe,  Ware,  Palmer,  Westfield,  Rockbottom,  Indian  Or- 
chard, Monson,  and  Brookfield.  Here  was  a parish  whose  corners  stretched 
away  one  hundred  miles.  The  priest  is  supposed  to  say  Mass  in  the  principal 
places  at  least  once  a month  ; in  the  smaller  whenever  it  is  possible. 

With  the  going  of  Father  Dougherty  the  people  of  Springfield  were  left 
without  a pastor.  Priests  were  few,  and  the  Catholic  population  was  increas- 
ing with  marvelous  rapidity.  New  missions  springing  up  all  over  the  coun- 
try called  for  priests,  and  priests  in  sufficient  number  were  not  to  be  had. 
There  was  amongst  the  Catholic  people  of  Springfield  at  this  time  a society 
called  the  Irish  Benevolent  Association.  From  their  number  two  men  were 
chosen,  Thomas  Beaven  and  Daniel  Toomey,  and  instructed  to  go  and  see 
Bishop  Hughes  in  New  York  in  the  hope  of  securing  a resident  pastor.  The 
Bishop  promised  assistance,  but  had  no  priest  to  spare.  During  this  time, 
Rev.  William  A.  Blenkinsop,  pastor  of  Chicopee,  came  twice  in  the  month  to 
minister  to  the  people.  Then  came  Rev.  Michael  P.  Gallagher,  who  was 
received  with  a hearty  welcome.  He  soon  proved  that  he  deserved  it.  The 
parish  had  grown  very  considerably.  The  little  church  was  too  small  to 
accommodate  all  who  desired  to  enter.  Father  Gallagher  enlarged  it  to  a 
seating  capacity  of  eight  hundred.  Meanwhile,  he  sought  a site  for  a more 
substantial  structure.  This  was  the  period  of  Know-Nothingism,  and  the 
way  was  neither  open  nor  easy.  Father  Gallagher  was  a man  of  indomitable 
spirit.  He  succeeded ; and  the  magnificent  buildings  and  grounds  now  making 
up  the  cathedral  property  show  how  well.  January  18,  i860,  it  was  announced 
to  an  amazed  people  that  Father  Gallagher  had  bought  from  Edmund  Allen, 
through  the  agency  of  Charles  W.  Rice,  for  the  splendid  property  on 

the  corner  of  State  and  Elliott  streets,  as  a site  for  a new  chnrch.  Then  rapidly 
followed  the  purchase  of  the  adjoining  properties.  Charles  Barrows  was  given 
$8  000  for  his,  Ellen  Stockbridge  $8, $00  for  hers,  Samuel  Currier  $1,000  for 
his,  and  on  March  ist  the  homestead  of  T.  M.  Walker  came  into  Father  Gal- 
lagher’s control  for  the  consideration  of  $10,000.  The  total  cost  of  the  prop- 
erty, therefore,  was  $34,750.  It  fronted  300  feet  on  State  street  and  went 
to  the  rear  44  rods  to  Salem  street.  Father  Gallagher  was  keenly  alive  in 
business  affairs.  He  afterwards  sold  the  land  in  the  rear  fronting  Elliott 
street  for  $35,000,  leaving  the  rest  of  the  property  free  of  incumbrance  and  a 
small  margin  in  gold  besides.  Previous  to  this  he  had  bought  a residence  on 


102 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Union  street.  This  he  sold  to  T.  M.  Walker  for  $2,000.  He  sold  St.  Ben- 
edict’s church  property  for  $4,000,  and  land  owned  by  the  parish  on  Wor- 
thington street  for  $4,000  more. 

His  purchase  proved  the  excellence  of  his  judgment.  It  is  as  sightly  a 
spot  as  any  within  the  Springfield  walls.  He  soon  was  busy  with  the  new 
church.  In  July,  i860,  ground  was  broken  for  the  foundation  and  contracts 
for  the  building  awarded.  Spooner  & Topliff  had  contract  for  the  mason 
work,  with  Marcus  Houghton  in  charge,  and  the  stone  was  to  be  furnished 
by  A.  T.  Dwelly  & Co.  R.  M.  Cadigan  contracted  for  the  carpenter  work, 
George  Morgan  & Bros.,  of  New  York,  for  the  windows ; the  plastering  was 
the  work  of  Patrick  Foley;  the  slating  was  done  by  Lawrence  Burns  ; Lenox 
& Nolan  Marble  Co.  built  the  altars.  Roche  Bros,  had  the  contract  for  light 
and  heat;  while  the  frescoing  was  given  to  Daniel  Muller,  of  New  York. 
The  entire  cost  of  the  contemplated  building  was  estimated  at  $75,000.  The 
completed  church  was  opened  to  the  public  December  27,  1861,  the  occasion 
being  a sacred  concert  by  the  choir  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  Boston, 
under  the  directorship  of  Prof.  John  J.  Wilcox.  Sufficient  money  was  made 
by  this  means  to  purchase  an  excellent  organ,  the  work  of  E.  G.  G.  Hook. 

Father  Gallagher  built  better  than  he  knew.  He  had  reared  a diocesan 
cathedral  where  he  planned  a parish  church.  Could  he  have  foreseen  that 
Christmas  Day,  1861,  when  the  delighted  worshipers  gathered  in  the  beautiful 
new  church  to  hear  him  read  the  first  Mass  ever  offered  within  its  walls,  at- 
tended by  all  the  ceremonial  of  his  high  position,  that  nine  years  thereafter 
a mitered  prelate  would  stand  in  his  place,  the  heart  of  the  godly  man  would 
have  been  overjoyed. 

After  the  opening  of  the  church  Father  Gallagher  set  his  heart  upon  its 
consecration.  Day  in  and  day  out  for  five  years  he  tirelessly  labored  for  this 
end.  By  selling  small  sections  of  the  property  in  the  rear  of  the  present 
cathedral,  by  the  prompt  and  generous  aid  of  the  parishioners,  and  with 
money  raised  by  the  mortgaging  of  his  own  personal  property,  his  dream  be- 
came a reality.  On  the  feast  of  St.  Michael,  September  28,  1867,  the  church 
of  St.  Michael  was  consecrated  by  Rt.  Rev.  John  Williams,  Bishop  of  Boston. 
St.  Michael’s  is  the  first  church  consecrated  in  the  history  of  New  England, 

Three  years  before  this  Father  Gallagher  welcomed  as  his  curate.  Rev. 
Thomas  O’Sullivan.  The  tender  and  holy  friendship  existing  between  the 
saintly  Dr.  Matignon  and  Father  John  Cheverus,  pastor  and  curate  of  the 
infant  Boston  church,  has  often  been  made  the  theme  of  beautiful  story.  As 
gentle  and  sacred  a love  is  said  to  have  existed  between  Father  Gallagher  and 
Father  O’Sullivan.  Father  Gallagher,  worn  out  by  labor  in  the  building  of 
God’s  house,  died  in  1869,  and  Father  O’Sullivan  seemed  to  have  left  his  heart 
at  the  grave  of  his  friend.  Rev.  Patrick  Healey,  of  Chicopee,  was  called  to 
the  care  of  St.  Michael’s.  After  the  death  of  Father  Gallagher,  Father  O’Sul- 
livan remained  Father  Healy’s  assistant  till  he  met  his  death  in  a railway 
accident  at  Worcester  September  14,  1870.  Rev.  Patrick  Healey  retained  the 
charge  of  St.  Michael’s  till  Springfield  was  made  an  episcopal  see,  and  Rev. 
P.  T.  O’Reilly,  then  pastor  of  St.John’s  church,  Worcester,  was  named  its 


Rev.  JAMES  J.  McDERMOTT 
(Deceased). 


Rev.  THO.MAS  S.MVTH. 


Rev.  E.  S.  EITZGERALD. 


Rev.  J.  J O’KEEEE.  L.  G.  GAGNIER. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


103 


first  bishop.  Bishop  O’Reilly  was  consecrated  September  25,  1870.  The 
Mass  of  the  day  was  celebrated  by  Cardinal  McCloskey,  Archbishop  of  New 
York,  who  was  also  the  consecrating  prelate,  assisted  by  Bishop  Williams,  of 
Boston,  and  Bishop  Conroy,  of  Albany,  The  sermon  was  preached  by  Bishop 
Bacon,  of  Portland.  The  new  bishop  immediately  appointed  Rev.  Patrick 
Healey,  then  acting  rector  of  St.  Michael’s,  vicar-general  of  the  new  diocese, 
and  Father  Healey  returned  to  the  pastorate  of  the  Holy  Name  church  in 
Chicopee,  and  Rev.  James  J.  McDermott,  that  same  day,  was  called  to  the 
cathedral  as  its  first  rector,  and  remained  in  this  capacity  until  1874,  when 
the  parish  of  the  Sacred  Heart  was  erected  and  Father  McDermott  was  made 
its  pastor.  Father  McDermott  was  succeeded  in  1874  by  Rev.  Charles  E. 
Burke,  who  had  been  an  assistant  at  the  cathedral  since  August  15,  1872.  He 
performed  the  duties  of  rector  until  his  appointment  to  the  pastorate  of  North 
Adams  July  i,  1883.  Father  Goggin  succeeded  him,  and  remained  until  Sep- 
tember, 1886.  Rev.  Garrett  H.  Dolan  was  rector  from  September,  that  year, 
to  December  8,  1888.  Rev.  B.  S.  Conaty  was  his  successor  till  January  24, 
1897,  when  the  bishop  appointed  Rev.  Edward  S.  Fitzgerald,  who  is  rector 
to-day,  June,  1899. 

The  regularly  appointed  curates  from  the  foundation  of  St.  Michael’s 
have  been  Rev.  Thomas  O’Sullivan  from  January,  1864,  to  September  14, 
1870 ; Fathers  Miles  O’Reilly,  P.  B.  Phelan,  Charles  Burke,  William  Goggin, 
Garrett  Dolan,  William  Power,  John  Fagan,  Levi  Achim,  Edward  S.  Fitz- 
gerald, John  P.  McCaughan  and  Michael  A,  K.  Kelly,  and  several  have  filled 
temporary  vacancies. 

During  the  rectorship  of  Rev.  Charles  Burke  was  built  the  magnificent 
St.  Michael’s  school.  The  bishop  had  felt  the  need  of  a parish  school  from 
his  coming,  and  the  work  was  begun  in  1880.  July  17,  1881,  the  corner-stone 
was  laid.  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Conaty,  of  Worcester,  preaching  the  sermon  on 
“Science  and  the  World.”  The  school  was  up  and  dedicated  November  26, 
1882.  September  3rd,  of  the  following  year,  the  school  was  opened  for  the 
pupils,  boys  and  girls.  Eight  hundred  were  enrolled  the  first  year.  In  1 884 
the  parish  of  St.  Joseph  opened  schools  for  its  French  children  and  drew  from 
St.  Michael’s  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  its  scholars.  The  school  is  under  the 
control  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  from  Flushing,  R.  I.  The  Rev.  Mother 
Cecilia,  who,  after  nearly  ten  years  of  zealous  labor,  died  in  the  convent  of 
her  order  on  Elliot  street,  September  10,  1890,  was  the  first  Superior.  Rev. 
Mother  Albina  is  the  present  Superior. 

The  schools  have  all  the  grades  of  the  ordinary  State  curriculum  and 
added  thereto  a High  school  in  which  are  taught  all  the  studies  which  obtain 
in  the  best  State  schools. 

On  May  28,  1892,  Bishop  O’Reilly  died,  and  on  June  1st  his  body  was 
laid  at  rest  in  the  sealed  vault  of  the  newly-constructed  mortuary  chapel 
under  the  cathedral.  On  the  i8th  of  October  following.  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  D. 
Beaven,  pastor  of  the  church  of  the  Holy  Rosary  in  Holyoke,  was  consecrated 
his  successor.  Archbishop  Williams,  of  Boston,  was  the  consecrator.  All  the 
prelates  of  New  England  were  present.  There  is  said  to  have  been  500  priests 


104 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


at  the  ceremonies.  In  the  sanctuary,  in  addition  to  the  New  England  pre- 
lates, were  Archbishops  Corrigan,  of  New  York,  and  Fabre,  of  Montreal ; 
Bishop  McDonnell,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. ; Bishop  Emard,  of  Valley  Fields, 
Canada,  and  Mons.  Tonti,  the  papal  legate.  Rev.  E.  J.  Broderick,  pastor  of 
St.  Peter’s  church,  Hartford,  was  the  preacher.  The  priests  of  his  diocese 
gave  the  new  bishop  a purse  of  $8,000. 

November  i,  1893,  a community  of  six  Sisters  of  Our  Eady  of  Charity 
of  the  Good  Shepherd  with  Sister  Lilian  as  superior  was  established  in  the 
cathedral  parish.  They  had  a temporary  home  on  the  corner  of  Eastern 
avenue  and  King  street,  but  a larger  place  being  needed,  the  Swazey  estate 
was  purchased  by  Bishop  Beaven.  The  buildings  thereon  were  used  while  a 
new  and  commodious  convent  was  being  built.  The  new  convent,  a large 
and  beautiful  building  of  brick  with  buff  trimmings,  was  dedicated  for  the 
Sisters’  use  by  Bishop  Beaven  May  24,  1899.  It  stands  on  the  Wilbraham 
Road,  near  to  the  head  of  the  Water  Shop  Pond,  about  twenty  minutes’  ride 
on  the  street  cars  from  the  cathedral  door.  At  the  dedication.  Rev.  J.  P. 
O’Gara,  acting  chaplain  of  the  institution,  with  the  other  cathedral  clergy, 
were  present. 

Special  care  is  given  at  St.  Michael’s  to  the  Italian  Catholics  of  Spring- 
field.  As  early  as  1869  or  1870,  some  of  these  people  came  to  Springfield. 
They  did  not  come  to  stay,  however ; and  after  earning  some  money  hied 
themselves  home  again  or  elsewhere  in  our  land  ; but  in  the  ’8o’s  they  came 
in  numbers,  and  have  steadily  increased  since  ; so  that  now  they  are  counted 
more  than  a thousand.  They  have  had  a kind  of  parish  formation  for  six 
years  past.  In  1893  the  use  of  the  mortuary  chapel,  St.  Augustine’s,  was 
allowed  them,  and  the  first  Mass  for  them  as  a distinct  body  was  said  therein 
in  November  of  that  year.  Rev.  Bernard  Conaty,  then  rector  of  the  cathe- 
dral, had  their  care  till  his  going  to  Worcester  ; since  then  Rev.  M.  A.  O’K. 
Kelly  looks  to  their  spiritual  interests.  He  thus  reports  them  : “ They  have 
not  made  much  history-,  but  have  acquired  the  reputation  of  an  absolutely 
honest  and  industrious  people.” 

The  parish  of  St.  Michael’s  possesses  the  cathedral  church,  the  rectory, 
the  convent  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  and  St.  Michael’s  parochial  school. 
Here,  too,  is  the  home  of  the  Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  their  convent  and 
house  for  the  children  committed  to  their  care.  The  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph 
have  also  a novitiate  and  a splendid  mother-house  now  approaching  comple- 
tion. From  the  founding  of  the  parish  to  December,  1898,  there  have  been 
15,254  baptisms,  4,386  marriages  and  140  conversions.  The  parish  counts 
7,000  souls. 

The  members  of  the  parish  are  generally  of  the  laboring  class,  though 
some  are  merchants,  while  many  are  in  the  building  trades.  The  young  peo- 
ple as  a rule  are  well  educated  and  ambitious.  A few  are  in  the  professions 
of  law  and  medicine,  and  in  both  of  these  professions  some  have  achieved 
marked  eminence.  Springfield  has  never  been  as  kindly  disposed  towards 
Catholic  people  and  interests  as  most  of  the  other  large  cities  and  towns  of 
the  Commonwealth.  For  this  reason,  and  because  the  preponderance  of 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGEIELD. 


105 


wealth  and  power  has  been  always  in  the  hands  of  non-Catholics,  the  people 
of  onr  faith  have  never  had  the  influence  in  civic  affairs  which  their  number 
and  their  intelligence  would  seem  to  warrant. 

SACRED  HEART  CHURCH, 

Springfield. 

IN  the  summer  of  1869  Father  Gallagher,  pastor  of  Springfield  died,  and 
Rev.  Father  Healey,  in  addition  to  Chicopee,  was  given  this  charge.  He 
labored  here  something  less  than  two  years.  In  that  time  he  had  recog- 
nized the  great  need  of  a new  parish  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
people  at  the  north  end  of  the  city,  and  for  ^12,000  bought  a large  tract  of 
land,  a nursery,  which  Father  McDermott,  when  appointed  in  1872,  increased 
by  the  purchase  of  the  site  of  the  present  school  and  convent.  Bishop  O’Reilly 
had  been  then  nominated  to  the  See  of  Springfield,  and  when  he  came  to 
take  possession  of  his  see  Father  Healey  reached  him  a clear  deed  for  the  new 
purchase.  When  the  division-came  Rev.  James  J.  McDermott,  then  rector  of 
the  cathedral,  and  who,  better  than  any  other  man  knew  the  people  and  their 
needs,  was  named  first  pastor.  Under  his  direction  the  parish  soon  had  shape. 
On  the  morning  of  Easter  Sunday  he  celebrated  the  first  Mass  in  the  new 
parish.  It  was  said  in  the  unfinished  school  building  on  Everett  street.  The 
first  story  of  this  building  until  the  completion  of  the  new  church  in  October, 
1896,  served  as  a parish  chapel.  Father  McDermott  believed  strongly  in 
Catholic  education.  He  built  the  school  before  he  built  the  church.  The 
years  proved  his  wisdom  in  this.  The  chapel  in  the  convent  school  building 
he  intended  as  temporary.  He  foresaw  the  marvelous  increase  of  the  Catholic 
people,  and  knew  that  the  years  would  demand  a new  church,  and  then  the 
convent  chapel  would  be  remodeled  into  the  greater  school-room  which  he  as 
well  saw  his  children  would  require.  The  school  and  chapel  were  dedicated 
by  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  O’Reilly  on  the  feast  of  the  Sacred  Heart  in  the  June  of 
1874.  In  August,  1877,  the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame  de  Namur  came  to  the 
parish  at  his  call.  Sister  Mary  Johanna,  who  remained  here  until  August, 
1886,  was  the  first  superior.  Three  hundred  and  thirty  children  greeted  the 
Sisters  the  morning  of  the  school  opening  in  September.  Before  the  end  of 
the  month  these  were  increased  to  350  girls.  The  school  has  been  growing 
since  in  usefulness,  in  reputation  and  in  numbers.  There  are  now  531  girls 
filling  ten  class-rooms,  requiring  the  service  of  eleven  teaching  Sisters,  and  the 
supervision  of  Sister  Augustine  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  who  has  been  superior 
since  the  going  of  Sister  Mary  Johanna.  The  school  has  the  usual  primary 
and  grammar  grades,  and  the  full  high-school  course.  In  1883  the  first  class 
was  graduated.  Every  year  since  has  had  its  graduation  until  to-day  ninety 
young  women  call  the  school  of  the  Sacred  Heart  their  Alma  Mater.  These 
young  women  in  1888  for  the  purpose  of  continuing  association  with  their 
old  teachers  and  the  work  of  the  school,  though  along  deeper  lines,  formed 
themselves  into  an  association  called  the  Sacred  Heart  Alumnae.  This  asso- 
ciation has  been  of  great  service  to  the  young  women  themselves  and  to  the 
parish  at  large. 


106 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


In  May,  1874,  Father  McDermott  purchased  from  John  Hitchcock  the 
house  which  he  occupied  as  parochial  residence  until  he  procured  the  northern 
half  of  the  present  presbytery.  The  old  house  was  then  made  a convent  for 
the  Sisters.  In  1887  all  the  parish  debt  was  paid,  and  Father  McDermott 
had  control  of  $25,000  in  the  treasury.  He  had  already  planned  with  arch- 
itect James  Murphy,  of  Providence,  the  magnificent  brown-stone  Gothic 
church,  which  to-day  is  the  glory  of  Springfield.  The  ground  was  broken 
in  preparation  for  the  foundation  walls.  The  next  year  the  corner-stone 
was  laid  by  Bishop  O’Reilly  in  the  presence  of  ten  thousand  people  October 
21,  1888.  Rev.  Denis  O’ Callahan,  now  permanent  rector  of  St.  Augustine’s 
church.  South  Boston,  was  the  preacher.  J.  F.  Callinan,  as  the  man  having 
the  freest  hand  in  the  corner-stone  offering,  was  given  by  Father  McDermott 
the  silver  trowel  used  by  the  bishop  in  the  ceremonies.  For  two  years  now 
Father  McDermott  labored  unceasingly  day  in  and  day  out ; he  lifted  the 
massive  walls  and  arch  and  towers  up  to  heaven,  but  the  strain  was  too  much 
for  human  shoulders.  His  health  gave  way,  and  in  the  fall  of  1890  his  physi- 
cian ordered  him  to  take  a trip  abroad  in  search  of  health.  This  he  did  in 
the  opening  spring.  He  never  saw  his  people  again.  He  died  in  Paris  July 
26,  1891.  The  body  was  brought  home  for  burial,  and  on  the  morning  of 
August  II,  1891,  which  strangely  enough  was  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of 
his  ordination  to  the  priesthood,  the  first  services  held  in  the  new  church — 
bis  own  band  had  raised — were  services  for  his  burial. 

Father  McDermott’s  death  was  a great  loss  to  his  people  and  to  the  dio- 
cese. He  was  a man  from  a thousand.  Of  unusual  mental  power  and  de- 
cision of  character,  he  was  early  recognized  by  his  bishop  and  his  brother 
priests  as  marked  for  leadership.  He  was  capable  of  great  design  and  had  a 
world  of  energy  in  carrying  out  his  plans.  “ He  does  not  die  a bishop,”  said 
Archbishop  Keane  in  the  funeral  sermon  over  his  dead  friend  and  college 
classmate,  “ because  bishops  in  New  England  are  so  long-lived.”  It  may  be 
said  without  offence  to  any  man  that  Father  McDermott  was  looked  upon  by 
our  priests  in  general  as  the  ablest  man  amongst  them.  When  he  came  to 
the  headship  he  found  in  the  new  parish  divergent  elements,  racial,  social 
and  educational ; but  such  was  the  native  force  of  his  personality  that  none 
could  withstand  the  swing  of  his  pastoral  arm.  He  welded  them  all  into  a 
compact  union,  a union  so  strong  that  the  greatest  parish  burdens  could  be 
always  lightly  sustained,  and  so  fused  with  the  fires  of  his  own  loyal  spirit 
that  the  flame  yet  burns  on.  His  people  are  known  in  the  diocese  over  as 
especially  active  in  church  work,  as  markedly  one  in  parish  spirit  and  effort 
and  as  uncommonly  blessed  in  the  splendid  results  of  their  sacrificial  labors. 

Father  McDermott  was  born  in  County  Roscommon,  Ireland,  August  9, 
1843.  When  fonr  years  old  his  father  came  to  this  country  and  settled  in  East 
Boston.  The  boy  received  his  preliminary  education  in  the  Latin  school 
attached  to  St.  Mary’s  church.  Completing  his  studies  here  he  was  sent  to 
Regiopolis  college,  Kingston,  Ontario.  After  three  years’  studying  here  he 
entered  St.  Mary’s  seminary,  Baltimore,  Md.  He  completed  the  course  of 
studies  at  St.  Mary’s  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  and  went  thence  to  the  Grand 


SACRED  HEART  CHURCH. 
Springfield,  Mass. 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGEIELD. 


li)7 

Seminary  at  Montreal.  He  was  ordained  in  Boston  Angust  1 1,  1866,  by  Arch- 
bishop Williams,  and  is  said  to  have  been  the  second  priest  ordained  by  this 
prelate.  He  was  sent  immediately  to  East  Boston  as  assistant  to  Rev.  James 
Fitton,  the  famous  missionary  priest  of  New  England.  Thence  he  was  or- 
dered to  Watertown  as  acting  pastor,  where  he  remained  until  appointed  as 
curate  to  Rev.  Father  Cuddihy,  of  Milford.  He  was  made  pastor  of  South- 
bridge,  and  there  remained  two  years  until  called  by  Bishop  O’Reilly  to  the 
rectorship  of  St.  Michael’s  cathedral. 

In  1891  Rev.  Thomas  Smythe,  then  pastor  at  Westfield,  was  made  by 
Bishop  O’Reilly  rector  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  Father  Smythe  had  already  built 
two  churches.  He  came  experienced  therefore,  and  soon  had  all  the  parish 
power  moving  towards  the  new  church’s  completion.  The  people  recognized 
the  fitness  of  the  bishop’s  choice  and  helped  him  right  loyally.  On  October 
18,  1896,  the  great  church,  confessedly  the  noblest  parish  church  in  New  Eng- 
land, was  ready  for  dedication.  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Beaven,  whose  venerable 
parents  are  members  of  this  parish,  dedicated  the  temple,  and  preached  the 
sermon.  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Tierney  was  celebrant  of  the  solemn  Pontifical 
Mass ; Father  Harkins,  high  priest ; Fathers  Phelan  and  Stone,  deacons  of 
honor;  Fathers  O’Keefe  and  Toher,  deacon  and  sub-deacon.  In  the  evening 
vespers  were  sung  with  magnificent  ceremony,  and  the  splendid  temple  was 
ablaze  with  a myriad  of  incandescent  lamps. 

The  music  at  both  services  under  the  direction  of  the  church  organist. 
Miss  F.  N.  McCarthy,  who  was  assisted  by  the  Springfield  orchestral  club,  was 
of  a very  high  order. 

In  1895  Rev.  Father  Smythe  built  a chapel  in  Brightwood  on  Plainfield 
street,  to  accommodate  the  growing  number  of  Catholics  in  that  vicinity.  It 
was  dedicated  the  evening  of  Thanksgiving  Day.  Bishop  Beaven  preached 
the  sermon  on  the  “Temple  of  God.”  The  Solemn  Vespers  were  sung  by 
Rev.  P.  B.  Phelan,  of  Holyoke.  Mass  is  said  in  this  chapel  Sundays  and 
holydays. 

The  first  curate  appointed  to  the  parish  of  the  Sacred  Heart  was  Rev.  J. 
J.  Fitzgerald,  who  afterwards  died  the  pastor  of  Indian  Orchard.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Rev.  James  J.  Boyle,  now  pastor  of  Ware.  Father  Boyle  was 
replaced  in  1881  by  Rev.  M.  J.  Howard,  who  here  remained  until  made  the 
first  pastor  of  the  church  of  the  Holy  Rosary  at  Holyoke,  1886.  After  Father 
Howard’s  time  there  was  need  of  two  curates,  and  Rev.  J.  J.  Fallon  came  to 
the  second  place.  He  served  here  until  made  pastor  of  Huntington.  Rev. 
Austin  O’ Grady  came  in  1886.  He  was  made  pastor  of  South  Deerfield  in 
the  spring  of  the  present  year.  In  July,  1891,  Rev.  Francis  J.  Reilly  was 
assigned  to  this  parish.  He  served  four  years.  Rev.  M.  J.  Griffin  came  in 
July,  1896.  He  and  Father  James  J.  Tyrrell  are  the  assistants  to-day. 

Rev.  Thomas  Smythe  was  born  in  County  Meath,  Ireland,  on  Christmas 
Day,  1848.  He  studied  in  All  Hallow’s  College  ; was  ordained  October  28, 
1871,  and  came  to  this  country  the  December  following.  He  was  sent  at 
once  as  assistant  to  Rev.  P.  J.  Harkins,  of  Holyoke,  whence  after  a year’s 
service  he  was  transferred  as  curate  to  Rev.  F.  H.  Purcell,  of  St.  Joseph’s 


108 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


church,  Pittsfield.  While  hardly  more  than  three  years  a priest  he  was  made 
pastor  of  the  church  at  St.  Mary’s,  Westfield.  This  was  unusual,  but  Father 
Smythe  had  proved  himself  an  unusual  man.  Difficulties  arising  from  mis- 
understandings between  priest  and  people  met  him  at  his  coming  to  West- 
field.  He  was  calm  and  strong,  and  the  people  soon  learned  to  follow  where 
he  led.  He  built  the  beautiful  brick  church  at  Westfield  and  a frame  church 
on  the  mission,  Huntington.  He  procured  valuable  property,  which  has 
since  been  a blessing  to  St.  Mary’s,  and  for  seventeen  years  was  loved  by  the 
people  of  his  own  church  and  the  churches  of  his  neighborhood.  Since  com- 
ing to  Springfield  he  has  completed  the  magnificent  church  of  the  Sacred 
Heart.  He  has  done  marvelous  work,  and  every  day  this  is  being  more  and 
more  recognized.  He  is  gentle  and  kindly  ; he  never  spares  himself  in  the 
work  of  his  vocation.  He  is  at  everybody’s  call,  and  it  may  be  safe  to  say 
that  no  other  priest  of  the  diocese  has  been  oftener  with  the  sick  than  Father 
Smythe,  nor  has  any  other  been  so  generally  chosen  as  confessor  by  priests,  by 
religious  aud  by  the  people.  And  with  all  he  is  the  possessor  of  an  unique  and 
sly  humor  which  makes  him  a delightful  and  welcome  comrade  in  every 
gathering  of  his  fellow-clergymen.  He  is  exceedingly  laborious.  His  whole 
priestly  life  has  been  as  a white  light,  illuminating,  warming  and  helpful  on 
the  road  to  God. 

There  has  been  in  the  Sacred  Heart  parish  since  its  formation  4843  bap- 
tisms, 823  marriages  and  300  conversions.  The  people  are  of  every  class,  from 
the  very  wealthy  to  the  very  poor ; from  the  highly  educated  to  those  having 
a dearth  of  knowledge  in  letters  ; the  latter  is  true  only  of  adults. 

All  the  children  are  thoroughly  instructed.  There  are  several  hundred 
Arabs,  Armenians  and  Syrian  Catholics  in  this  parish  They  have  the  care 
of  Father  Dazbec,  who  comes  several  times  in  the  year.  At  all  other  times  they  ' 
know  the  care  of  the  parish  priests. 

At  the  head  of  Carew  street,  scarcely  more  than  three  minutes’  walk  from 
the  church  door,  is  the  splendid  hospital.  House  of  Mercy,  under  the  charge 
of  the  Sisters  of  Providence.  The  priests  of  the  parish  have  spiritual  care  of 
the  hospital. 

ST.  JOSEPH’S  CHURCH, 

Springfield. 

fWO  unsuccessful  attempts  were  made  to  form  a parish  of  French-Cana- 
dian  Catholics  in  Springfield,  one  in  the  interval  between  October, 
1869,  and  July,  1870,  by  Rev.  Magloire  Turcotte ; the  other  from 
April,  1871,  to  April,  1872,  by  Rev-  Augustus  La  Verdiere.  But  in  March, 
1873,  came  Rev.  Louis  Gagnier.  He  definitely  organized  the  parish  under 
the  patronage  of  St.  Joseph,  and  on  the  9th  day  of  the  same  month  said  the 
first  Mass  of  his  pastorate.  It  was  said  in  the  City  Hall.  Straightway  he 
made  a canvass  of  his  people  and  sought  funds  for  a church.  On  May  5th  of 
that  year  he  purchased  for  $20,000  the  land  now  used  by  the  parish  on  How- 
ard Street.  The  basement  of  the  present  church  of  St.  Joseph’s  was  built  in 
June,  1873.  It  was  ready  for  divine  service,  and  the  first  Mass  was  said  therein 
November  ist,  of  the  same  year.  It  served  the  people  until  1877,  when  the 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


109 


superstructure  was  completed.  The  original  parish  took  in  the  French- 
speaking  Catholics  of  Springfield,  West  Springfield,  Mittineague  and  Long- 
meadow.  To-day  Mittineague  and  West  Springfield  form  parish  organizations 
for  the  French  Catholics.  Father  Gagnier  counted  1460  souls  in  the  parish 
when  first  formed  ; now  there  are  3300.  There  have  been  3917  baptisms,  705 
marriages  and  nine  conversions  from  Protestantism. 

In  the  fall  of  1897  Father  Gagnier  bade  the  architects  Chickering  & 
O’Connell  draw  for  him  plans  for  a parochial  school  building.  A handsome 
brick  school  trimmed  with  stone  in  the  renaissance  style  is  the  result.  It  was 
dedicated  by  Bishop  Beaven  May  8,  1898.  This  school  faces  on  Water  street, 
just  a few  steps  from  the  church.  It  is  three  stories  high  and  has  ample 
school-rooms  and  play-rooms.  It  has  a modern  system  of  heating  and  venti- 
lating. It  is  174  feet  by  58,  with  a deck  roof,  and  is  40  feet  high  from  the 
street  to  the  eaves.  On  the  top  floor  is  a large  hall,  58  by  96  feet,  with  a 
stage  58  by  32,  and  on  the  same  floor  an  auxiliary  hall,  52  by  60. 

The  150  children  present  at  the  opening  of  the  parish  school  in  1884 
have  increased  in  189910  370,  in  the  first  four  grades.  Aiigust  24,  1898,  a 
community  of  Sisters,  numbering  six,  with  Sister  Mary  St.  Cyprian  Super- 
ior, came  from  the  Mother  House  of  the  Sisters  of  Holy  Cross  at  St.  Laurent, 
near  Montreal,  Canada,  to  take  charge  of  the  parish  schools.  The  old  Root 
home  on  Union  street,  which  Father  Gagnier  had  purchased  eight  years  before, 
was  made  their  convent  home.  These  Sisters  make  the  fifth  community  of 
religious  women  domiciled  in  Springfield. 

Rev.  Louis  G.  Gagnier,  the  founder  and  present  pastor  of  St.  Joseph’s, 
was  born  at  St.  Martin,  Province  of  Quebec,  Canada.  He  was  educated  in 
the  College  of  St.  Terese,  was  ordained  in  1855,  came  to  the  diocese  of  Spring- 
field  in  1870,  and  has  labored  uninterruptedly  since.  Father  Gagnier  has 
always  had  the  respect  and  affection  of  priests  and  people.  He  is  a member  of 
the  bishop’s  council,  and  is  more  sought  than  any  other  as  director  and  confes- 
sor by  his  brother  clergymen.  He  has  done  a great  deal  of  useful  work,  and  in 
the  twenty-five  years  of  his  stay  in  Springfield,  the  parish  has  become  the  pos- 
sessor of  a brick  church,  a magnificent  brick  school,  a parish  house  and  a con- 
vent. He  is  still  hale  and  strong  after  nearly  a half  a century  of  priestly  labor, 
and  is  vigorous  enough  to  attend  alone  to  all  the  exacting  labors  of  a city  parish. 

The  people  of  this  parish  are  generally  of  the  laboring  class,  but  many 
of  them  may  be  considered  skilled  workmen.  They  have  amongst  them 
builders  and  contractors,  some  are  in  the  professions  and  a few  are  merchants. 
They  are  known  as  an  industrious  and  thrifty  people. 

ST.  MATTHEW’S  CHURCH, 

Indian  Orchard. 

TRADITION  in  Indian  Orchard  is  that  the  first  Mass  said  here  was 
in  1846,  by  Rev.  George  Reardon.  Just  where  this  Mass  was  said  is 
not  now  known.  After  the  coming  of  Father  Blenkinsop  to  Chi- 
copee, in  October,  1850,  Mass  was  said  in  what  was  known  as  the 
cloth-room  of  the  old  Indian  mill.  Of  this  Mass  there  is  definite  memory. 


110 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


From  this  date  up  to  1864  the  people  were  attended  at  irregular  intervals 
from  Chicopee.  But  in  that  year  Rev.  Patrick  Healey,  pastor  of  Chicopee, 
built  the  present  church  of  St.  Matthew’s.  It  is  a frame  structure  resting  on 
a foundation  of  brick,  and  is  built  in  combined  Roman  and  Gothic  lines.  It 
is  very  tastefully  decorated,  has  pictures,  statues,  a splendid  organ  and  ex- 
cellent stained  glass  windows.  It  has  a seating  capacity  for  five  hundred 
souls.  St.  Matthew’s  was  attended  from  Chicopee  for  eight  years,  and  when 
Chicopee  Falls  was  made  a parish  Indian  Orchard  was  attached  thereto  under 
the  care  of  Father  Stone  for  eight  years  more.  It  then  was  made  a mission 
of  South  Hadley,  under  the  care  of  Rev.  David  McGrath. 

In  1878  Indian  Orchard  had  a sufficient  number  of  Catholics  to  warrant 
the  proper  support  of  a resident  priest.  Rev.  J.  F.  Fitzgerald,  then  curate  at 
the  Sacred  Heart,  Springfield,  was  made  the  pastor.  He  built  the  beautiful 
and  substantial  rectory  near  the  church.  Father  Fitzgerald  died  in  the  second 
year  of  his  pastorate,  and  Rev.  John  Kenny,  now  pastor  of  St.  Mary’s  church, 
Northampton,  came  in  his  stead.  He  served  nine  years  and  was  succeeded  in 
1889  by  Rev.  William  J.  Power,  who  is  still  in  care  of  the  parish.  Father 
Power  has,  during  his  stay  in  Indian  Orchard,  put  into  the  church  a new 
altar,  and  has  made  several  changes  in  church  and  presbytery  which  have 
added  to  the  beauty  of  both. 

In  Indian  Orchard,  as  in  the  other  valley  towns,  the  original  Catholics 
were  of  the  Irish  race.  When  Father  Blenkinsop  said  his  first  Mass  here 
there  were  present  about  100  souls.  The  people  of  St.  Matthew’s  to-day 
number  more  than  1 100,  while  the  parish  of  St.  Aloysius,  consisting  of 
French  Canadians  and  their  children,  which  was  cut  off  from  St.  Matthew’s 
a few  years  since,  numbers  2500  souls.  In  the  two  decades  that  St.  Mat- 
thew’s parish  has  existed  there  have  been  567  baptisms,  147  marriages  and 
5 conversions  from  Protestantism.  “These  converts,”  writes  Father 
Power,  have  been  found  to  be  honest  and  reliable.”  The  parish  possesses 
a church  and  rectory  in  good  condition  and  a house  in  which  the  sexton 
resides. 

Rev.  William  J.  Power,  the  pastor,  was  born  in  Worcester  in  1856, 
studied  iii  the  public  schools,  theu  at  Montreal,  whence  he  graduated  in  the 
class  of  ’79.  He  was  ordained  in  Montreal  December,  1882.  Immediately 
after  his  ordination  he  was  made  curate  at  St.  Jerome’s,  Holyoke,  thence 
transferred  to  St.  Michael’s  cathedral,  whence,  after  a service  of  five  years, 
he  was  sent  as  pastor  to  St.  Matthew’s. 

Father  Power  is  quiet,  very  much  of  a home  body,  a man  who  finds  his 
chiefest  pleasures  in  the  duties  of  his  calling.  He  is  gifted  with  a singing 
voice  of  unusual  sweetness  and  power,  which  his  musical  training  has  made 
charmingly  effective  when  employed  in  the  church’s  chant. 

The  Catholic  people  at  St.  Matthew’s  are  much  respected  by  their  neigh- 
bors, and  as  a rule  are  thrifty  and  industrious.  Many  of  them  are  well  edu- 
cated, and  the  children  of  the  laborers  of  the  first  generation  are  going  into 
business  life,  into  the  professions  and  the  higher  callings,  open  only  to  char- 
acter and  to  scholarship. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Ill 


ST.  ALOYSIUS’  PARISH, 

Indian  Orchard. 

"ir^ECEMBER  II,  1898,  St.  Aloysius’  parish,  Indian  Orchard,  celebrated 
I =1  its  silver  jubilee.  With  the  growing  prosperity  of  Indian  Orchard 
great  bodies  of  French  Canadians  came,  and  in  1873  they  were  suf- 
ficiently numerous  to  warrant  the  formation  of  a congregation  of 
themselves.  This  was  done  by  Rev.  Eouis  Gagnier,  who,  December  1 1,  1873, 
gathered  them  in,  said  the  first  Mass  and  preached  the  first  sermon  to  the  new 
congregation.  Father  Gagnier  attended  them  till  1876,  when  Father  Dandry, 
who  afterwards  died  as  pastor  of  the  church  of  the  Precious  Blood  in  Holyoke, 
was  made  his  successor.  Father  Douis  Ducharme  came  to  replace  Father  Lan- 
dry, upon  the  latter’s  promotion  to  Holyoke.  He  died  shortly  after  assuming 
the  pastorate.  He  was  followed,  July  24,  1886,  by  Rev.  Charles  Crevier,  now 
pastor  of  the  Precious  Blood  at  Holyoke.  Father  Crevier  brought  zeal  and 
experience  to  the  parish.  He  made  extensive  improvements  in  the  church  and 
put  in  a fine  church  organ.  He  was  succeeded  in  1 890  by  Rev.  Clovis  Boudouin, 
who  in  June,  1897,  went  to  Williamstown,  while  the  present  pastor.  Father 
Marcoux,  came  from  Williamstown  to  Indian  Orchard. 

Father  Boudouin  labored  zealously  and  with  marked  success  for  seven 
years.  The  parish  grew  during  his  administration  to  the  number  of  2500 
souls,  and  when  he  left  the  parish  he  left  to  his  successor  the  control  of  ^75,- 
000  worth  of  church  property.  He  build  the  Sisters’  Convent  on  Worcester 
Street.  The  building  and  furnishings  cost  $10,000.  The  convent  makes  home 
for  six  Sisters  of  the  Order  of  Assumption,  who  teach  350  children.  Sister 
M.  of  St.  Sacrament  is  the  Superior.  In  the  schools  special  attention,  in  greater 
measure  than  ordinarily  obtains  in  French  parishes,  is  given  to  the  study  of 
English.  The  schools  in  general  have  a good  reputation.  The  parish  of  St. 
Aloysius  has  a church,  a rectory,  and  a school-house. 

Father  Marcoux,  the  present  pastor,  came  to  this  diocese  from  Montreal, 
was  educated  in  Quebec,  and  ordained  to  the  priesthood  by  Archbishop  Tache- 
reau  in  1873.  After  ordination  he  was  made  the  Vice-rector  of  the  University 
of  Laval  in  Quebec,  which  position  of  honor  he  filled  acceptably  for  several 
years.  After  coming  to  this  diocese  he  was  assistant  at  North  Adams  until 
his  appointment  as  the  first  resident  pastor  of  Williamstown.  He  has  put  new 
pews  into  the  church  since  his  coming.  He  is  assisted  by  Rev.  M.  Rioux. 

Father  Marcoux  is  considered  an  excellent  scholar.  He  is  a good 
administrator,  and  is  active  in  works  of  charity  and  education.  His  people 
are  thrifty  and  law-abiding.  They  are  ordinarily  of  the  working  class,  though 
of  late  years  they  have  a fair  representation  amongst  the  merchants  of  the  city. 


WEST  SPRINGFIELD  AND  MITTINEAGUE. 

^EST  SPRINGFIELD  was  made  a parish  in  June,  1877,  and  Father 
Patrick  B.  Phelan  was  named  the  resident  pastor.  He  broke 
ground  for  a new  church  on  June  13,  1878,  and  on  the  i6th  of  the 
same  month  the  corner-stone  was  laid  by  Bishop  O’Reilly.  The  church  was 


m 


112 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


ap  and  Mass  said  therein  on  the  8th  day  of  the  September  following.  It  was 
dedicated  under  the  title  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  on  the  3d  day  of  No- 
vember, the  same  year.  In  1883,  Father  Phelan  was  promoted  to  the  pas- 
torate of  the  Sacred  Heart  church  at  Holyoke,  and  Rev.  John  J.  O’Keefe^ 
who  had  been  his  assistant  in  West  Springfield  since  May,  1880,  became  the 
pastor  in  his  stead. 

As  early  as  the  time  of  Father  Gallagher,  Catholic  people  were  in  West 
Springfield  and  Mittineague.  They  were  obliged  to  travel  to  Springfield, 
four  miles  away,  to  hear  Mass.  They  were  Irish  immigrants  or  their  children, 
and  earned  their  livelihood  in  the  cotton  or  paper  mills.  Some  of  them  were 
of  excellent  disposition,  and  have  since  made  honorable  mark  in  the  world. 
In  this  connection,  we  may  mention  John  O’Brien,  now  Rev.  John  O’Brien, 
pastor  of  the  Sacred  Heart  church  in  East  Cambridge,  Mass.,  and  founder  of 
the  Sacred  Heaj't  Review.  John  O’Brien,  then  a youth,  and  James  Fitz- 
gerald, nephew  of  Tobias  Boland  of  Worcester,  with  Father  Gallagher’s  ap- 
proval, organized  a Sunday-school,  wherein  they  regularly  taught  catechism 
to  'the  children.  Mr.  O’Brien  then  worked  in  the  mills,  and  Mr.  Melcher, 
the  superintendent,  encouraged  him  in  his  good  work,  and  gave  him  the  free 
use  of  the  Corporation  Hall  for  his  Sunday-school.  Moreover,  the  young 
men  were  promised  the  free  gift  of  a piece  of  land  for  a church  lot.  This 
promise  was  kept,  and  the  land  was  afterwards  deeded  to  Father  Gallagher. 
On  this  land  is  built  the  church  of  the  Immaculate  Conception.  Father 
Gallagher,  in  1861,  began  saying  Mass  every  Sunday  in  the  Corporation  Hall, 
and  so  continued  till  his  death.  In  1869,  Rev.  Patrick  Healy,  then  the  acting 
pastor  of  Springfield,  built  the  church  of  St.  Thomas  at  Mittineague,  and 
herein  the  people  heard  Mass  regularly  until  West  Springfield  and  Mitti- 
neague were  made  a parish  by  themselves. 

During  the  administration  of  Father  O’Keefe  considerable  property  has 
been  bought  and  the  whole  surroundings  greatly  improved.  He  has  become 
master  of  four  acres  of  land  adjoining  the  property  of  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception and  running  back  to  the  river.  It  has  a frontage  of  400  feet.  On 
this  land  he  has  erected  a large  frame  building  which  is  intended  ultimately 
for  school  and  church.  He  began  this  work  in  June,  1887.  The  building  is 
155  feet  long  by  52  feet  in  width,  and  50  feet  high.  The  hall  in  the  building 
will  seat  950  persons.  In  1893  he  lifted  up  the  old  parish  house,  put  under- 
neath a first  story  of  brick,  finished  the  inside  and  outside  in  excellent  taste, 
and  at  a cost  of  seven  thousand  dollars  made  a cozy  and  handsome  presbytery. 

ST.  THOMAS  CHURCH, 

Mittineague. 

"I'^^EV.  PATRICK  HEALY,  afterwards  Vicar-General  of  the  diocese, 

I while  the  acting  pastor  of  Springfield,  in  1869,  built  the  church  of 

|ls\^  ^ St.  Thomas  at  Mittineague.  Father  O’Keefe  has  built  in  the 
rear  of  this  church  St.  Thomas’  Hall,  with  a seating  capacity  of 
500,  and  adjoining  this  hall  are  smaller  halls  and  a library  for  the  use  of  the 
several  parish  societies.  The  parish  has  a cemetery  of  eight  acres,  a few 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


113 


minutes’  walk  from  St.  Thomas’  church.  Here,  too,  is  a beautiful  grove 
under  the  supervision  of  Father  O’Keefe  wherein  the  children  with  proper 
tutelage  have  innocent  freedom  Sundays  and  holydays. 

Since  Father  O’Keefe  became  pastor  of  West  Springfield  and  Mittineague 
he  estimates  that  he  has  spent  in  parish  purchases,  improvements  and  repairs, 
$35,000.  He  values  the  whole  property  at  $60,000,  and  takes  pride  in  the  fact 
that  the  parish  has  now  only  $8,000  debt.  There  have  been  since  the  parish 
formation  663  baptisms,  342  marriages  and  8 conversions  from  Protestantism. 
The  assistants  in  this  parish  have  been  Rev.  John  J.  O’Keefe  from  May,  1880, 
to  his  promotion  to  the  pastorate  in  1883.  Rev.  Thomas  O’Keefe  from  Janu- 
ary, 1884,  till  made  pastor  of  Monson,  November,  1894.  Rev.  Michael  Ahearn 
came  in  his  stead,  November,  1894,  and  is  yet  assisting  Father  O’Keefe. 

The  Catholic  people  of  West  Springfield  and  Mittineague  stand  high  in 
public  regard.  Father  Thomas  O’Keefe  was  the  first  Catholic  member  of  the 
School  Board  ; Timothy  Sullivan,  who  is  the  civil  engineer  of  the  Boston  & 
Albany  Road,  is  chairman  of  the  Water  Board  ; Michael  Burke  is  a Select- 
man, and  Mr.  Kysaght  is  to-day  a member  of  the  School  Board.  The  Catho- 
lics have  a good  reputation  in  the  business  life  of  the  town, — James  McCarthy 
is  a leading  builder.  Many  of  them  own  their  own  homes.  They  have  con- 
siderable political  power,  which,  under  the  direction  of  their  own  leading 
men,  is  wisely  used  for  the  best  interests  of  the  town.  They  have  great  pub- 
lic spirit,  and  no  man  more  than  their  pastor.  Father  O’Keefe,  who  is  deeply 
interested  in  the  public  water  supply  and  the  study  of  municipal  electric 
lighting.  He  is  recognized  as  especially  well  informed  in  both  matters,  and 
the  town  benefits  each  year  by  his  knowledge. 

ST.  WILLIAM’S  CHURCH, 

Mittineague; 

AND 


WEST  SPRINGFIELD  (MISSION), 

St.  Louis. 

N Sunday  afternoon,  March  6,  1873,  Father  Gagnier  gathered  into  Lenox 
Hall,  Mittineague,  the  French-speaking  Catholics  of  the  town  for  a 
Vespers  service.  At  this  service  he  took  initial  steps  for  the  forma- 
tion of  a French  congregation.  On  the  sixteenth  day  of  the  same 
month  he  sang  High  Mass,  and  the  people,  who  had  learned  the  plain  chant 
in  their  old  homes,  were  able  to  assist  him.  Some  time  previous  to  1 876  Father 
Gagnier  had  bought  a strip  of  land  on  the  Agawam  side  of  the  hill,  overlook- 
ing the  Westfield  River.  It  measured  150  by  175  feet,  and  cost  $550.  Hereon, 
in  1876,  he  built  the  Church  of  St.  William.  There  were  then  about  four  hun- 
dred French-speaking  people  in  Mittineague;  to-day  there  are  seven  hundred. 
Father  Gagnier  attended  this  place  as  a mission  for  ten  years.  In  1883  it  was 
erected  into  a parish,  with  East  and  West  Longmeadowas  missions  attached. 

Father  E.  Pelletier  became  the  first  resident  pastor.  He  labored  here 
until  1885,  and  during  that  time  lodged  with  a family  of  the  congregation,  for 
8 


114 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


as  yet  the  parish  had  no  presbytery.  Rev.  J.  E.  Canipeau  succeeded  Father 
Pelletier,  upon  the  latter’s  promotion  to  Chicopee,  and  served  till  1888.  Dur- 
ing his  pastorate  was  bought  the  house  on  Front  Street,  which  has  since  served 
as  the  parish  presbytery.  After  him.  Rev.  J.  H.  A.  Biron  was  called  from 
Notre  Dame,  Worcester,  to  the  pastorate  of  Mittineague.  In  1889,  on  account 
of  failing  health,  he  was  given  as  assistants  Revs.  J.  O.  Sylvian  and  J.  C.  Allard. 
In  February,  the  next  year.  Father  Biron  was  obliged  to  go  to  Canada  for  rest, 
and  died  there  some  weeks  later.  His  loss  was  deeply  felt  by  his  people.  He 
was  recognized  as  a preacher  of  unusual  power.  Rev.  Frederick  Bonneville 
succeeded  him  in  1890,  and  after  three  years  of  excellent  work  was  promoted 
by  the  bishop  to  the  greater  parish  of  the  Assumption  in  Chicopee.  Rev. 
Humphrey  Wren  then  became  pastor  in  July,  1893,  and  with  the  missions  of 
East  and  West  Fongmeadow,  the  bishop  gave  him  the  French-speaking  people 
of  West  Springfield.  He  had,  as  an  assistant  during  his  pastorate.  Rev.  P.  J. 
Hackett.  After  six  months’  service  as  pastor.  Father  Wren  was  promoted  to 
the  parish  of  West  Warren.  On  the  first  Sunday  in  January,  1894,  Rev. 
Joseph  M.  A.  Genest  was  summoned  by  the  bishop  from  Southbridge  to  the 
pastorate  of  St.  William’s.  He  had  as  a mission  West  Springfield  alone,  for 
East  and  West  Fongmeadow  were,  in  1894,  made  a parish  by  themselves. 

At  Father  Genest’s  coming  he  immediately  began  repairing  the  parish 
property,  and  in  1 894,  seeing  the  need  of  a parochial  school,  took  initial  steps 
towards  its  formation  by  remodelling  the  basement  of  the  church  into  a class- 
room. It  accommodates  fifty  children,  who  are  divided  into  four  grades.  They 
are  as  yet  under  the  tutelage  of  a lay  teacher.  In  April,  1894,  Father  Genest 
bought  of  W.  H.  Dexter  for  $2,750  a tract  of  land  on  the  corner  of  Main 
street  and  Bell  avenue.  West  Springfield,  as  a site  for  a new  church.  The 
church  was  built,  and  the  basement  was  ready  for  worship  in  May  of  the  next 
year.  This  church  of  St.  Fouis  has  so  far  cost  $12,000.  There  are  one  hundred 
families  of  Canadian  lineage  in  West  Springfield.  The  curates  who  have  served 
are  Rev.  A.  Clement,  some  months  of  1888;  Revs.  J.  O.  Sylvian  and  J.  C.  Al- 
lard, the  year  1889  ; and  Rev.  J.  P.  Hackett,  from  July,  1893,  till  January,  1894. 

In  the  first  two  decades  of  the  parish  life  there  were  452  baptisms  and  55 
marriages.  The  people  in  these  two  parishes  are  of  Canadian  origin,  and  are 
orderly  and  peaceful.  The  majority  of  them  earn  their  livelihood  in  the  paper 
mills  of  Agawam  and  in  the  shops  of  Springfield.  Many  of  them  are  carpen- 
ters, and  a few  are  contractors  and  builders. 

Father  Genest,  the  pastor,  is  an  energetic  man,  wholly  concerned  about 
the  highest  good  of  his  people,  and  by  word  and  example  always  leading 
them  to  it. 

St  ANN’S  CHURCH, 

Three  Rivers. 


EFORE  1882  a fair  number  of  Canadians  in  the  village  of  Three 
Rivers,  Thorndike  and  Bondsville,  petitioned  Bishop  O’Reilly  for  a 
priest  of  their  own  blood  and  tongue.  The  bishop  sent  them  Rev. 
Anthony  Famy,  then  a curate  at  Southbridge.  He  found  200 
families.  At  once  he  began  his  work.  The  town  authorities  gave  him  the 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGFIELD.  , 115 


use  of  an  old  Protestant  church,  and  he  gathered  the  people  therein  for  the 
first  service. 

In  two  years  he  built,  equipped,  and,  in  good  part,  had  paid  for,  a church 
which  then  stood  the  people  at  $10,000. 

He  was  succeeded  in  1889  by  the  present  pastor.  Rev.  Joseph  Marchand. 

Three  years  after  Father  Marchand’s  coming,  he  built  an  addition  to  the 
church,  furnished  and  decorated  the  whole  interior.  This  work  cost  $i  1,000. 

The  parish  property  consists  of  the  church,  a parsonage  built  by  Father 
Lamy  in  1888  for  $5,000,  and  a cemetery  of  ten  acres,  purchased  by  him  the 
year  before  (1887),  and  at  Bondsville  a small  church  which  has  cost  the  people 
$6,000. 

Three  Rivers  has  a parochial  school  under  lay  instruction.  There  are 
now  two  hundred  and  sixty  families  in  the  parish. 


ST.  MARY’S  PARISH, 

Thorndike. 

’T.  MARY’S  parish,  Thorndike,  like  Bondsville,  is  an  ofF-shoot  of 
Palmer  and  was  established  the  first  day  of  July,  1878,  with  Rev. 
Francis  J.  Lynch  as  its  first  resident  pastor.  The  church,  how- 
ever, was  built  in  1875,  by  Father  Lynch,  who  was  then  pastor  of 
Palmer.  The  First  Mass  was  said  in  this  church  in  May,  1876.  The  cele- 
brant was  Rev.  Francis  J.  Lynch. 

The  present  church,  however,  is  not  the  first  church  in  Thorndike.  Fr. 
Blenkinsop  purchased  a small  protestant  meeting-house  which  was  blessed  by 
Bishop  Fitzpatrick  the  afternoon  of  the  day  he  dedicated  St.  William’s  at 
Ware.  St.  John’s  church  choir  of  Worcester  sang  the  vespers. 

There  were  a thousand  souls  of  Irish  or  French  lineage  when  the  parish 
was  made.  Now  Father  Lynch  has  500  of  Irish  birth  or  blood  and  200  Poles. 
Up  to  January,  1898,  there  had  been  710  baptisms  and  260  marriages. 

The  people  are  of  the  working  class,  are  respectable  and  thrifty.  Many 
own  their  own  homes. 

Father  Lynch  was  born  in  Ireland,  educated  at  Alleghany,  and  ordained 
to  the  priesthood  at  Buffalo,  June  10,  1866.  He  was  appointed  assistant  to 
Father  Harkins  at  Holyoke  and  then  made  pastor  of  Palmer.  He  is  hale  and 
vigorous  after  thirty-three  years  of  labor  on  the  missions. 


ST.  MARY’S  CHURCH, 

Westfield. 

IT  is  not  clear  when  the  first  Mass  was  said  in  Westfield.  Father  Fitton 
speaks  of  visiting  Westfield  as  a missionary  between  1828  and  1830.  It 
is  known,  too,  that  Father  John  Brady  of  Hartford,  cousin  of  Rev. 
John  D.  Brady  of  Chicopee,  had  gone  from  section  to  section  during  the 
building  of  the  canal  to  attend  the  Catholic  workingmen.  It  is  but  fair  to 
infer  that  he  said  Masses  in  the  town  or  neighborhood.  Few  Catholics 
remained  after  the  completion  of  the  canal,  but  afterwards  with  the  building 
of  the  Westfield  Railroad  many  others  came.  Their  number  was  increased 


116 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


during  the  construction  of  the  Boston  & Albany  Road.  John  Healy  came  in 
1840.  About  the  same  time  came  William  Sullivan,  William  Callinan  and 
John  O’Neil.  This  same  O’Neil  met  his  death  in  South  wick  Ponds  while 
bringing  up  the  last  boat  that  ever  came  up  the  old  canal.  Earlier  than  the 
coming  of  these  men  there  were  Irish  Catholics  present  here, — James  Philips, 
Thomas  Hearns,  Cornelius  O’  Keefe,  John  and  Philip  Reilly  among  them.  The 
first  Catholic  woman  known  to  have  come  to  Westfield  was  Alice  Sheridan, 
who  afterwards  became  Mrs.  John  O’Neil,  wife  of  the  man  that  was  drowned, 
and  who,  after  a second  marriage,  was  known  to  the  people  of  this  generation 
as  Mrs.  Roundsville.  About  the  same  time  came  Mrs.  Burgess,  who  was 
then  a Miss  Crotty,  with  Mrs.  Hickey  and  Mary  Carroll. 

Possibly  we  had  Catholics  before  the  coming  of  the  Irish.  Emerson 
Davis,  A.  M.,  in  his  historical  sketch  of  Westfield,  says : “ The  daughter  of 
the  second  wife  of  Mr.  Sackett  (her  name  I do  not  know)  was  taken  captive 
by  the  Indians  and  carried  to  the  northwest  part  of  New  York,  married  an 
Indian,  and  remained  among  them  as  long  as  she  lived.  Her  descendents 
have  been  here  to  see  their  mother’s  friends  several  times  since  the  French 
war.”*  Inasmuch  as  the  Indians  of  Canada  and  New  York  at  that  period  were 
Catholics,  is  it  presumptuous  to  infer  that  these  “descendents”  may  have 
been  Catholic  too  ? 

Tradition  has  it  that  Father  John  D.  Brady  of  Cabotville  said  Mass  here 
several  times  from  1841  to  his  death  in  October,  1847.  The  same  is  said  of 
Father  Bernard  O’ Cavanaugh,  his  assistant;  and  of  his  successor  in  the  pas- 
torate of  Chicopee,  Father  Strain.  The  first  Mass  definitely  reihembered, 
however,  was  said  the  morning  of  the  eighth  or  ninth  of  November,  1851,  in 
the  Town  Hall  by  Father  William  Blenkinsop,  of  Chicopee.  There  were 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  people  present. 

Thereafter  the  Catholics  gathered  for  ]\Iass,  whenever  it  was  possible  for 
the  priest  to  come,  in  the  home  of  some  one  of  their  own  people  ; and  Sun- 
days when  he  could  not  come  they  convened  of  their  own  accord  and  said  the 
rosary  and  the  litanies  in  common. 

James  Philips  was  especially  active  in  religious  work  at  this  period.  He 
and  others  wanted  to  buy  the  old  Methodist  church  on  Main  street,  which 
was  then  in  the  hands  of  a Mr.  Noble,  an  attorney,  and  could  have  been  had 
for  a small  sum.  Other  Catholic  settlers  opposed  the  purchase,  and  the  pro- 
ject fell  through.  It  was  a great  mistake,  for  the  building  would  have 
answered  the  Catholic  needs,  and  the  site  would  have  proved  an  eligible  one. 

With  the  American  Protestant  people  even  then  the  Irish  as  a body  were 
much  respected,  some  of  them  especially  so.  Mr.  Philips,  in  1853,  was  given 
by  his  Protestant  neighbors,  when  the  desire  of  the  Catholics  for  a church  site 
became  known,  $350,  with  which  was  bought  the  land,  whereon  finally  was 
built  the  Catholic  church.  In  1854  the  frame  of  the  new  church  was  up,  the 
roof  shingled,  and  the  sides  roughly  boarded  in.  The  vigil  of  Christmas 
came  that  year  on  Sunday,  and  the  poor  people  had  the  inexpressible  delight 
of  hearing  Mass  for  the  first  time  in  their  new  church. 

‘ “ Sketches,”  Fitton,  pp.  312  and  325. 


Rev.  B.  McKEANY. 


Rev.  JAMES  DONOHOE. 


Rev.  IOSEPH  M.  A.  GENEST. 


Rev.  FRANCIS  J.  LYNCH. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


117 


Father  Blenkinsop  came  from  Chicopee  for  this  purpose.  An  incident 
may  be  mentioned  here  in  passing.  From  the  beginning  until  this  day  West- 
field  has  known  small  show  of  religious  bigotry;  but  1854  was  the  year  of 
Know-Nothingism,  and  certain  firebrands  of  the  town  had  threatened  to  burn 
the  new  church.  The  Irish  Catholic  people,  under  the  direction  of  William 
Sullivan,  Cornelius  Donovan  and  others,  watched  the  church  for  several 
nights.  Feeling  was  aroused  by  an  editor  of  a local  publication  called  the 
Wide-Awake  American.,  who  drew  public  attention  to  the  fact  that  a school- 
house  called  the  “ Red  School  House”  was  used  Sundays  by  Catholics  in 
teaching  their  children  catechism.  William  Sullivan,  assisted  by  Michael 
Healey,  who  came  in  1851,  and  some  others,  was  the  teacher  of  this  Sunday- 
school.  Time  after  time  the  paper  screamed  out  the  query,  “ Is  an  American 
school-house  to  be  desecrated  by  the  ragged,  dirty,  Irish  teaching  the  religion 
of  Rome?”  The  teacher,  William  Sullivan,  felt  obliged  to  take  his  little 
flock  elsewhere  for  instruction. 

Inflamed  by  these  cries,  in  the  early  summer  of  1854,  the  ill-disposed 
made  threats  more  frequently.  On  the  eve  of  July  4th  an  organized  body 
formed  for  the  purpose  of  burning  the  church,  and  marched  in  its  direction. 
The  Catholic  men  hastened  for  the  defense,  and  in  grim  determination  waited. 
When  near  the  church  Mr.  Hiram  Hull,  who  was  then  a selectman  of  the 
town,  stopped  the  mob  and  ordered  them  to  desist  from  their  intention. 
‘‘There  will  be  bloodshed,”  said  he  ; and  there  would  have  been.  The  mob 
was  turned  from  its  object,  and  with  ribald  cries  and  wild  shouts  betook  them- 
selves elsewhere.  The  Catholics  were  never  afterwards  molested.  On  the 
contrary,  there  has  been  no  time  in  the  church’s  history  when  Protestant 
neighbors  have  failed,  by  kind  word  and  generous  help,  to  encourage  all  the 
good  that  the  Catholic  hearts  and  minds  could  plan. 

In  June  of  the  next  year,  1855,  Bishop  Fitzpatrick,  of  Boston,  came  for 
the  first  Confirmation.  Father  Blenkinsop,  accompanied  by  Fathers  Cud- 
dihy  and  Purcell,  of  Pittsfield,  attended  the  bishop.  For  a whole  year  pre- 
vious to  this  William  Sullivan  had  instructed  the  children.  So  promptly 
and  correctly  did  they  answer  the  bishop’s  questions,  that  Father  Cuddihy 
was  moved  to  ask  aloud,  ‘‘Who  instructed  these  children  ?”  ‘‘  William  Sul- 

livan,” was  the  answer.  ‘‘  If  that  man  comes  to  Pittsfield,”  said  the  veteran, 
facetiously,  ‘‘I  will  make  him  my  vicar-general.” 

The  day  of  the  Confirmation,  John  Healey,  though  dying  of  consump- 
tion, insisted  upon  being  taken  to  the  church  to  witness  the  Confirmation  of 
his  four  children.  He  had  this  happiness.  He  died  the  first  day  of  the  fol- 
lowing August,  and  was  the  first  Catholic  buried  in  the  parish  cemetery. 
The  Catholics  had  bought  their  cemetery  shortly  before  the  coming  of  the 
bishop,  and  had  hoped  to  present  his  lordship  with  the  deeds  that  day,  and 
to  ask  him  to  consecrate  the  place.  An  error,  made  by  the  attorney  in  the 
drawing  up  of  the  deeds,  prevented  this.  The  cemetery  was  therefore  not 
consecrated  till  the  coming  of  Bishop  O’Reilly  for  confirmation  in  1871. 

Before  the  purchase  of  the  parish  cemetery,  the  Catholic  dead  were  car- 
ried to  Chicopee  and  buried  in  the  town  cemetery.  Father  Brady,  some  time 


118 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


after  1841,  procured  a plot  of  land  there  and  blessed  it  for  Catholic  burials. 
Thenceforward  the  Catholics  were  buried  in  their  own  ground ; bnt  at  the 
opening  of  the  local  cemetery,  the  Westfield  Catholics  buried  here. 

When  Westfield  became  a mission  of  Springfield,  Fathers  Reardon, 
Dougherty  and  Gallagher  in  turn  attended  to  the  spiritnal  needs  of  the 
Catholic  people  once  a month  till  1862,  when  Rev.  M.  X.  Carroll,  who  had 
been  assistant  to  Father  Gallagher  in  Springfield,  became  the  first  resident 
pastor. 

There  were  in  the  diocese  of  Boston  at  that  time  some  Italian  priests 
who  came  in  the  ardent  desire  for  missionary  labor.  Amongst  them  was 
Father  Dominick  Miglionico,  who  in  1868  became  the  pastor  of  Westfield  in 
place  of  Father  Carroll.  Father  Miglionico  resigned  the  pastorate  July  i, 
1874,  and  returned  to  Italy  at  the  earnest  request  of  .some  of  his  family. 
Neither  the  days  of  Father  Carroll,  nor  of  Father  Miglionico,  had  always 
cloudless  skies.  Father  Carroll  was  eccentric,  easily  irritated,  and  sometimes 
over-hospitable.  This  brought  him  criticism  ; he  was  restive  under  criticism, 
and  some  regrettable  occurrences  between  him  and  the  people  were  occasioned. 
Father  Miglionico  did  not  understand  the  Irish  people,  nor  conld  they  in  turn 
reconcile  certain  characteristics  in  him  with  the  ideal  priest  they  carried  in 
mind  from  the  old  .country.  He  was  fond  of  society,  and  would  consort  with 
the  Protestant  laity.  Sundays,  when  driving  to  the  missions,  he  would  not 
hesitate  to  shoot  partridge  or  quail  that  might  cross  his  path ; then  he 
would  gather  for  a feast  in  the  parish-house  those  who  had  entertained  him ; 
at  times  he  lost  his  temper,  and  even  from  the  altar  spoke  harshly  to  the 
people,  and  at  all  this  the  simple  Irish  people  forebodingly  shook  their  heads. 

To  replace  Father  Miglionico,  on  the  very  day  of  his  resignation,  came 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Smythe,  now  the  pastor  of  the  Sacred  Heart  parish  in 
Springfield.  Father  Smythe  was  a different  type  of  man  from  his  two  prede- 
cessors. Young,  capable  and  zealous,  with  all  the  traditional  prudence  of 
the  Irish  priest,  he  was  affable  and  gentle-mannered,  yet  firm  and  masterful 
when  there  was  need.  The  people  soon  learned  to  respect  him,  and  the  years 
increased  the  respect,  and  won  him  love.  In  a short  time  he  had  the  parish 
united  as  one  man  ; and  this  union  remained  unimpaired  till  his  promotion 
to  Springfield,  August  14,  1891.  His  fellow-citizens  of  every  religious  per- 
suasion shared  the  high  regard  in  which  his  people  held  him.  From  the  day 
of  his  coming  to  Westfield  the  towns-people  began  to  measure  him.  He  was 
nominated  by  the  Democrats  of  the  town  for  membership  on  the  School 
Board.  The  Republican  candidate.  Judge  Dunbar,  was  the  most  popular  man 
of  Westfield.  So  excellent  a man  did  Father  Smythe  prove,  however,  that  the 
Judge  won  the  election  by  just  fifteen  votes.  He  resigned  soon  after,  and  in 
joint  convention  of  the  selectmen  and  School  Board,  Father  Smythe  was  elected 
to  fill  the  vacancy.  At  the  next  town  election  he  was  honored  by  the  nomi- 
nation of  both  parties,  and  unanimously  elected ; and  so  it  was  for  a third 
term.  He  served  ten  years,  but  finally  was  defeated  by  only  a few  votes 
during  a time  of  racial  and  religious  excitement,  augmented  and  embittered 
by  the  presence  of  the  infamous  Margaret  Shepherd. 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGFIELD. 


119 


When  named  by  Bishop  O’Reilly  as  the  pastor  of  the  Sacred  Heart 
church  in  Springfield  the  people  rejoiced  at  the  honor  that  had  come  to  their 
pastor.  They  regretted  his  going,  nevertheless,  and  the  general  feeling  was 
voiced  by  an  old  man  who  guilelessly  said  to  Father  Smythe  in  the  writer’s 
hearing,  “The  only  thing  I have  ever  had  against  the  old  bishop  is  that  he 
took  you  away  from  us  to  Springfield.’’ 

The  old  St.  Mary’s  church  built  in  the  time  of  Father  Blenkinsop  had 
been  enlarged  by  Father  Miglionico,  who  added  a sanctuary  and  vestry.  He 
also  built  a presbytery,  and  bought  from  the  Gracia  family  a parcel  of  land 
adjoining  the  church.  In  March,  i88i,  the  church  was  destroyed  by  fire.  A 
defective  flue  was  the  immediate  cause.  One  week  after  the  burning  Father 
Smythe  and  the  people  decided  to  build  a commodious  brick  church,  and 
Architect  James  Murphy,  of  Providence,  was  soon  at  work  on  the  plans. 
Meanwhile  space  was  cleared  of  the  debris.^  and  the  excavating  of  the  building 
begun.  To  have  the  place  in  keeping  with  the  dignity  of  the  contemplated 
temple.  Father  Smythe  purchased  the  land,  upon  which  the  parochial  house 
now  stands,  of  L.  B.  Whately,  and  the  house  was  at  once  moved  from  its 
original  site  thereto.  So  rapidly  was  the  work  on  the  new  church  pushed 
that  the  people  had  the  happiness  to  hear  the  first  Mass  in  the  basement  on 
Christmas  Day  the  same  year.  Meanwhile,  Mass  had  been  celebrated  in  the 
old  Music  Hall  on  Elm  street.  The  new  church  was  up,  complete,  and  was 
dedicated  by  Bishop  O’Reilly  March  i,  1885.  In  Father  Miglionico’s  time 
the  parish  had  bought  the  Lamberton  estate,  in  the  rear  of  the  church,  at  a 
cost  of  $2,500.  The  house  that  stood  thereon  Father  Smythe  disposed  of  by 
sale  of  tickets,  whereby  he  netted  for  the  parish  $500,  and  put  upon  the 
winner  the  expense  of  moving.  He  then  bought  the  Harrigan  property,  on 
Mechanic  Street,  in  November,  1884.  The  fine  property  opposite  the  church 
whereon  now  stands  the  new  parochial  school  built  by  Rev.  Father  James 
Donohue  in  1898,  was  purchased  by  Father  Smythe  from  Mrs.  Hattie  (Neal) 
O’Brien.  Three  houses  stood  upon  it  then,  one  of  which  is  the  present  con- 
vent ; the  others  were  moved  to  make  room  for  the  school.  In  1891  Bishop 
O’Reilly  called  Father  Smythe  to  the  Sacred  Heart  church  in  Springfield,  and 
Rev.  James  Donohue  was  made  his  successor. 

Father  Donohue  is  now  in  the  eighth  year  of  his  pastorate,  and  during  that 
time  has  almost  liquidated  the  debt  of  the  parish.  He  has  added  to  the  work- 
ing power  of  the  parish  a magnificent  new  school,  which  was  ready  against 
the  coming  of  the  children  in  September,  1898.  One  hundred  and  fifty  chil- 
dren were  present  at  the  opening ; now  there  are  two  hundred  attending  the 
sessions,  under  the  direction  of  six  sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  of  whom  Sister  Eoy- 
ola  is  the  Superior.  Father  James  Donohue  was  born  in  the  County  Cavan, 
Ireland,  May  i,  1849,  and  was  ordained  at  Baltimore  December  19,  1874.  He 
served  as  curate  in  North  Adams  and  in  Chicopee,  and  was  made  pastor  of 
West  Fitchburg  in  1881.  After  the  death  of  Father  Cremmin  in  September, 
1886,  he  was  promoted  to  Southbridge,  and  called  thence  in  1891  to  West- 
field.  Father  Donohue  is  a zealous  man,  and,  in  the  furtherance  of  his  parish 
projects,  sacrifices  himself  and  his  days.  He  has  been  remarkably  successful. 


120 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Westfield  has  something  more  than  three  thousand  Catholic  people  ; per- 
haps fifty  families  are  of  Canadian  origin,  and  fifty  more  are  Poles ; the  rest 
are  Irish.  There  have  been  625  marriages  since  the  opening  of  the  parish 
records,  and  3,640  baptisms,  and  each  year  has  seen  five  or  six  conversions 
from  Protestantism. 

Father  Thomas  Sullivan,  who  died  in  1898,  pastor  of  Uxbridge,  was  made 
assistant  to  Father  Miglionico  in  1873.  He  served  till  he  was  appointed  pas- 
tor at  Palmer.  Rev.  Lawrence  Dervin  was  here  from  August,  1878,  to  July, 
1880;  Rev.  Daniel  Higgens  from  August,  1880,  to  August,  1882;  Rev.  Eugene 
Toiler  from  May,  1883,  to  January,  1884,  and  Rev.  John  Keleher  from  January, 
1884,  to  March  14th,  1886. 

Then  came  Father  Martin  Murphy  for  five  years.  Father  Daniel  McGil- 
licuddy  for  fifteen  months,  and  Father  Thomas  Smith,  who  has  now  completed 
his  fourth  year  of  service,  and  is  still  at  work. 

The  parish  is  in  good  condition  financially.  It  has  an  excellent  church, 
a splendid  school,  a convent,  a presbytery,  and  two  houses.  The  people  gen- 
erally are  of  the  working  class,  though  some  hold  high  places  in  the  profes- 
sions and  business  life.  They  are  of  excellent  repute  for  the  morality  of  their 
lives,  and  are  notably  ambitious.  They  give  their  children  all  possible  advan- 
tages in  education.  They  wield  an  influence  for  good  in  the  town,  socially  and 
politically. 


FRANKLIN  COUNTY 


ST.  JAMES, 

Deerfield. 

(5  I HE  first  Catholics  who  came  to  Deerfield  were  not  on  a mission  of 
^ I mercy  bent.  Hertel  de  Rouville,  who,  on  the  last  night  of  February, 
1704,  sacked  Deerfield,  and  made  that  night’s  history  a page  of  flame 
and  blood,  was  a Catholic  ; so  were  his  two  hundred  Frenchmen  ; and  very 
likely  Catholics  too,  were  the  one  hundred  and  forty  Indians,  who  made  up 
his  terrible  war  party.  ' 

They  took  as  prisoners  to  Canada  one  hundred  and  twelve  of  the  Deer- 
field people.  In  1706  these  were  redeemed  and  all  who  cared  to  return  to 
Deerfield  were  free  to  come. 

Under  guidance  of  Rev.  Mr.  Williams  fifty-seven  took  ship  at  Quebec 
for  Boston.  Twenty-eight  refused  to  return  ; they  had  become  attached  to 
the  country,  the  people,  and  the  Catholic  faith  ; many  of  them  afterward  mar- 
ried, principally  with  the  French,  and  cast  their  lot  forever  with  their  captors. 

Among  those  refusing  to  return  was  Eunice  Williams.  She  afterwards 
married  the  chieftain  Ambrose,  at  Caughnawaga. 

In  subsequent  life  she  visited  Deerfield  several  times  to  see  her  father 
and  family,  and  Longmeadow  to  see  her  brother  ; and,  though  daughter  of 

* J.  G.  Holland,  Hist.  West.  Mass.,  p.  156.  J.  G.  Shea,  Hist,  of  Missions,  p.  335.  Ban- 
croft’s Hist,  of  U.  S.,  Vol.  HI.,  p.  21 1,  etc. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


121 


the  minister  in  the  former  place,  and  sister  of  the  minister  in  the  latter,  “no 
entreaty  could  induce  her  or  her  friend,  Mary  Harris,  to  forsake  their  Indian 
ways  or  the  faith  they  had  embraced.” 

It  is  a remarkable  fact  that  when  troubles  afterwards  came  to  the  mis- 
sionaries, the  descendants  of  the  Puritan  captives  were  their  staunchest 
friends,  and  remained  the  most  unwavering  in  their  attachment  to  the  church. 

Elizabeth  Naim  (Nims)  and  Ignatius  Raizenne  (Rising),  grown  to  man- 
hood and  womanhood,  married,  “and  their  family,”  says  one  who  writes  of 
the  missions,  “has  ever  been  distinguished  by  piety.  The  descendants  of 
this  Puritan  family,  Indians  by  adoption,  have  given  several  clergymen  and 
religious  to  Canada,  and  almost  in  their  own  day  their  daughter  became 
Superior  of  the  Sisters  of  the  Congregation.”  * 

Elizabeth  at  the  time  of  her  capture  was  only  two  years  old,  Ignatius 
ten.  Both  were  adopted  by  the  Indians  and  brought  up  among  them,  care- 
fully instructed  by  the  missionaries  and  the  sisters,  and  after  refusing  to 
return  to  Deerfield  on  the  close  of  the  war  were  liberated  at  the  request  of 
the  missionaries  who  gave  them  a tract  of  land  at  the  lake  on  which  the 
family  still  resides. 

Dr.  Holland,  at  the  end  of  the  list  of  the  Deerfield  captives  given  in  his 
history  of  Western  Massachusetts,  adds:  “also  three  Frenchmen,  who  had 
lived  in  Deerfield  some  time,  and  who  came  from  Canada.” 

One  of  these  Frenchmen,  “bush-rangers,”  Miss  Alice  Baker,  in  her 
“ True  Stories  of  New  England  Captives,”  calls  them,  “ had  won  the  heart  of 
the  Puritan  maiden,  Abigail  Stebbins,  and  on  the  night  of  the  sacking  had 
somehow  saved  her,  her  father  and  his  wife  with  their  six  children,  ‘ ranging 
in  age  from  five  to  nineteen.’  The  father,  mother  and  eldest  child,  returned 
to  Deerfield  after  the  exchange.  Abigail  (baptized  Gabrielle)  and  the  others 
became  Catholics,  grew  up  and  married  in  Canada,  and  the  name  Stebbin  or 
Steben  is  common  there  now.  Abigail  and  her  brother  came  back  to  help 
their  widowed  mother  to  keep  the  anniversary  of  her  marriage  and  their  cap- 
ture, twenty-two  years  afterwards.  Her  thirteenth  child,  Marie  Anne,  was 
born  here  on  the  27th  of  February,  1726,  and  she  carried  it  back  to  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Family  in  Boucherville,  Canada,  for  baptism  at  the 
hands  of  Father  Meriel,  in  November  of  the  same  year.  Her  sister.  Thank- 
ful, baptized  Therese  Louise  Stebbins,  in  the  same  church,  became  tlie  Cath- 
olic wife  of  Adrian  Le  Grain,  February  4th,  17 1 1.  She  bore  him  nine  children, 
the  last  of  whom,  Veronique,  was  born  and  baptized  on  the  4th  of  July,  1729. 
Two  children  of  Abigail  Stebbins  de  Noyon  stood  by  their  little  cousin  at 
her  baptism,  and  just  a week  after,  followed  Thankful  Stebbins  to  her  last 
resting  place  on  earth.”  ^ 

In  the  meeting-house  of  Deerfield,  on  that  terrible  night,  were  gathered 
the  captives,  while  their  masters  were  getting  ready  for  their  dreary  march 
to  Canada.  There  on  the  floor,  bound  hand  and  foot,  was  the  powerful 
blacksmith,  Thomas  French,  and  near  him  his  wife,  Mary  Catlin  and  their 

’ J.  G.  Shea,  Catholic  Missions,  p.  332.  ^ Hist,  of  West.  Mass.,  p.  152. 

’ Miss  C.  Alice  Baker,  “Story  of  N.  E.  Captives,’’  p.  260,  etc. 


122 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


five  eldest  children.  The  two  eldest  children  and  the  father  returned  after 
the  war,  the  others,  Freedom,  Martha  and  Abigail,  remained.  Freedom  was 
baptized  Marie  Fran coise  ; and  in  1713  married  Jean  Daveluy  ; Martha  was 
baptized  Marguerite,  and  at  sixteen  married  Jacques  Roi.  She  married  again 
in  May,  1753,  to  Jean  Louis  Menard,  and  her  daughter  Louise  from  this  mar- 
riage, nineteen  years  later,  married  Joseph  Amable  Plessis.  At  Montreal  on 
the  3d  of  March,  1733,  Joseph  Octave,  son  of  Joseph  Amable  Plessis  and 
Louise  Menard,  grandson  of  Martha,  and  great-grandson  of  Deacon  Thomas 
French,  was  born. 

The  father  was  a blacksmith  and  a man  of  excellent  repute.  ‘'  A devout 
Catholic,”  says  Miss  Baker,  “determined  to  secure  for  himself  and  his  em- 
ployees a faithful  observance  of  the  fasts  of  his  church,  he  humanely  and 
with  good  business  foresight,  adapted  his  work  to  the  conditions.  In  the 
Lenten  season  the  heavy  hammers  of  the  forge  were  silent,  and  the  men  took 
up  the  lighter  labor  of  sharpening  and  polishing  the  axes  that  had  been  made 
in  the  autumn  and  winter,  and  stored  away  unfinished.  Once  a month  the 
father  sent  his  sons  and  apprentices  to  the  parish  priest  for  confession.  The 
mother  took  care  that  the  religious  duties  of  her  daughters  and  domestics 
were  duly  performed.  On  Sundays  and  on  feast  days  the  whole  household 
went  together  to  the  parish  church.  The  children  were  taught  reading  and 
their  first  catechism  by  the  mother,  who  also  trained  them  in  habits  of  econ- 
omy and  order.” 

The  boy,  Joseph  Octave,  became  in  1806  the  great  Archbishop  of  the  see 
of  Quebec,  which  then  held  spiritual  sway  from  Louisiana  to  Labrador,  and 
had  in  his  hands  the  destiny  of  the  church  at  a time,  the  most  critical  in  her 
American  history.  The  English  government  then  denied  to  the  Catholics 
the  right  of  the  title,  “ Bishop  of  Quebec,”  claiming  it  for  the  Anglicans; 
and  claimed  also  authority  in  the  appointment  of  pastors.  Bishop  Plessis  set 
himself  sternly  against  the  innovation,  and  for  years  in  the  face  of  every  dan- 
ger, and  every  temptation  held  out  to  him  in  promises  of  power  and  place, 
and  peace,  was  as  immovable  as  the  bed-rock  of  his  own  episcopal  city.  He 
conquered  and  saved  the  power  of  the  church  in  Canada  ; and  to-day  amongst 
the  greatest  of  the  prelates  of  America,  the  faithful  everywhere  hail  the  grand- 
son of  the  Puritan  Deerfield  maiden,  Martha  French. 

Deerfield  knew  nothing  more  like  the  woeful  night  of  February,  1704, 
till  Monday,  August  25th,  forty-two  years  afterwards.  Then  some  Indians 
from  VandruiPs  army,  separated  from  the  main  body  after  the  surrender  of 
Fort  Massachusetts,  and  made  another  visit  to  the  scene  of  their  old  triumphs 
at  Deerfield. 

In  the  morning,  the  families  of  neighbors  named  Amsdam  and  Allen 
went  to  the  meadows  for  hay-making.  They  were  surprised  by  the  Indians, 
and  Simeon  Amsdam,  a lad,  was  killed  and  scalped,  and  Samuel  Allen,  John 
Sadler  and  Adoni  Gillet  were  savagely  pursued.  “ Allen,”  says  I.  G.  Holland, 
“ fought  desperately  for  his  own  life,  and  the  lives  of  his  three  children.  At 
last  he  was  obliged  to  fight  with  the  breech  of  his  musket,  and  thu*-  strug- 
gling he  fell  by  a shot.  The  shirt  that  he  wore  that  day,  torn  bv  the  toma- 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


123 


hawk  and  bullet,  is  still  preserved  by  his  descendants  as  a memento  of  his 
bravery.” 

The  famous  convert  of  our  day,  the  gentle  and  scholarly  Eliza  Allen 
Starr,  who  is  writer  and  artist,  who  is  devout  and  loyal,  who  is  blessed  with 
the  personal  high  regard  of  our  holy  father,  Leo  XIII.,  and  who,  as  much  as 
any  woman  of  letters  in  our  day,  has  made  the  name  of  Catholic  revered,  and 
the  lives  of  Catholic  saints  beloved,  is  a native  of  this  same  Deerfield,  and  a 
direct  descendant  in  the  fifth  generation  from  this  same  Samuel  Allen,  who, 
in  defence  of  home  and  children  died  so  nobly  at  “The  Bars.” 

In  her  case  we  see  that  the  road  to  the  Church  is  not  always  through 
captivity,  and  that  sometimes  “a  scion  of  the  grand  old  Puritan  stock,”  may 
come  to  the  altar  without  cowering  in  abject  terror  on  her  knees  before  the 
Jesuit  with  his  slouched  hat  looped  up  at  the  sides,  in  a long  black  cassock, 
a rosary  at  his  waist,  and  a scourge  in  his  hands,  as  Miss  Alice  Baker  dreams 
the  picture  to  have  been  in  the  case  of  Eunice  Williams. 

The  Puritan  blood  is  naturally  religious,  and  when  once  the  soul  is 
flooded  with  the  soft  full  light  of  truth,  a happiness  comes  that  nothing  of 
earth  can  buy  away  from  the  steadfast  nature  ; and  this  was  the  case  with  the 
Deerfield  maidens,  who  were  taken  away  in  1704,  and  this  is  the  case  with 
the  Puritan  maiden  who  comes  to  the  church  after  them  of  her  own  sweet 
will  in  our  day. 

The  first  Catholic  of  modern  times,  known  to  be  in  Deerfield,  was  Thomas 
R.  O’ Grady,  who  came  in  1842,  a boy  of  eighteen  years  from  Quebec,  where 
he  had  landed  in  May  of  that  year.  He  remained  nearly  a year  in  Deerfield, 
and  during  that  time  was  found  by  Father  John  D.  Brady,  between  whom  and 
the  Irish  boy  there  grew  a great  friendship.  The  priest  gave  the  boy  a Bible, 
which  now  is  at  Florence,  and  from  which  fifty-seven  years  afterwards  is 
copied  the  following : “ This  Holy  Bible  was  given  to  me  by  Rev.  John  D. 
Brady,  Deerfield,  Mass.  I,  Thomas  O’ Grady,  landed  in  Quebec  May  loth, 
1842,  in  the  i8th  year  of  my  age.  My  father,  Michael  O’Grady,  died  in  1836, 
and  was  buried  in  Durnane  Abbey,  near  the  altar.  My  mother,  Sarah  Roche, 
is  the  daughter  of  David  De  la  Roche,  of  Duhollan,  Co.  Cork.  The  De  la 
Roche  was  a title  given  to  the  family  by  the  King  of  France  for  services  and 
bravery  in  the  battle  of  Fontenoy.” 

A son  of  this  Thomas  O’ Grady  and  Margaret  Rowe,  who  were  married 
at  Chicopee  by  Rev.  Bernard  O’Cavanagh,  October  5,  1848,  was  born  in  Jef- 
ferson City,  Missouri,  December  15,  1859.  family  moved  in  i860  to 

Vicksburg,  Miss.,  and  in  July,  four  years  later,  came  thence  to  Northampton. 
The  boy  studied  in  the  public  schools,  and  at  Ottawa  College.  He  was  or- 
dained after  the  regular  course  in  theology  at  the  Grand  Seminary,  Montreal, 
December  20,  1885.  After  three  months’  service  at  Athol,  he  was  called  by 
the  bishop  to  the  Sacred  Heart  church  at  Springfield,  where  he  labored  to 
January  19,  1899,  when  Bishop  Beaven  made  Deerfield  a parish,  and  named 
Austin  O’Grady,  son  of  the  boy  to  whom  Father  Brady  gave  the  Bible,  its 
pastor. 

The  limits  of  the  parish  embrace  Deerfield,  Whately,  Sunderland  and 


124 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Conway,  and  a thousand  souls  are  counted  in  these  limits.  Father  O’Grady 
is  not  the  first  resident  pastor  of  Deerfield,  nor  is  the  parish  formation  due 
to  him. 

As  early  as  1871  Rev.  Henry  L.  Robinson,  then  pastor  of  Greenfield, 
organized  the  people  into  a congregation,  and  purchased  from  the  Monument 
Society  their  old  meeting-house,  which  he  fitted  up  into  a church  and  put 
under  the  patronage  of  St.  James. 

This  church  stood  on  historic  ground,  the  site  of  the  Bloody  Brook  mas- 
sacre. Deerfield,  with  Whately,  was  a mission  of  Greenfield  until  July,  1895, 
when  Bishop  Beaven,  adding  to  it  Hatfield,  which  to  that  time  had  been  in 
the  care  of  the  pastor  of  Northampton,  made  a new  parish  and  named  Rev. 
R.  S.  J.  Burke  the  first  pastor.  Father  Burke  was  succeeded  one  year  later 
by  Rev.  M.  A.  O’Sullivan,  who  remained  till  the  coming  of  Father  O’Grady 
in  January,  1899.  Father  O Sullivan  had  the  assistance  of  Rev.  James  Cruse 
from  March,  1897,  till  his  going. 

The  people  of  this  parish  are  principally  of  the  Irish  race,  though  now 
there  come  amongst  them  French,  Germans,  Poles  and  Italians.  The  parish 
has  church  and  rectory,  both  neat,  well  furnished  and  in  good  condition. 


CHURCH  OF  THE  HOLY  TRINITY, 

Greenfield. 

’OME  TIME  in  1845  Rev.  John  B.  Daley  came  down  from  the  North 
and  said  Mass  for  the  first  time  in  Greenfield.  The  town  then  had 
four  Catholic  families.  Once  every  three  months,  thenceforward, 
sacrifice  was  offered  in  the  “ Homes  of  the  people.”  After  Father 
Daly  Father  O’Callaghan  came  from  Burlington,  Vt.,  several  times  until 
P'ather  Brady,  then  pastor  of  Chicopee,  took  upon  himself  the  care  of  the 
Catholics.  In  this  work  he  was  followed  by  Fathers  Strain,  O’Cavanagh  and 
Blenkinsop,  of  Chicopee,  and  by  Fathers  O’ Callaghan,  O’Sullivan  and  Han- 
nigan,  of  Holyoke.  Now'  and  then  we  find  traces  of  Father  Julius  J.  Doherty 
of  Springfield. 

When  Northampton  w'as  made  a parish,  in  1866,  Father  Moyce,  its  pastor, 
had  Greenfield  as  a mission.  At  about  this  period,  and  for  some  years  before. 
Catholics  came  in  crowds  to  Greenfield,  and  in  the  spring  of  1 868  the  Bishop 
of  Boston  considered  them  sufficiently  numerous  to  need  immediate  pastoral 
care.  Rev.  Henry  L-  Robinson,  then  a curate  at  St.  James’  church,  Boston, 
was  made  the  first  resident  pastor.  There  is  a tradition  that  Father  Brady 
had  purchased  an  old  Protestant  church  and  fitted  it  up  for  service,  and  that 
therein  the  people  heard  Mass.  We  can  find  no  positive  record  of  such  a 
church  to-day.  The  first  church,  which,  with  the  exception  of  the  remodel- 
ing and  beautifying  done  during  the  pastorate  of  Father  Purcell,  is  the  one 
used  to-day,  was  built  by  Father  Robinson.  It  is  a frame  building  in  Gothic 
lines,  and  stands  on  the  main  street  of  the  beautiful  town.  Before  the  build- 
ing of  the  church.  Father  Robinson  gathered  his  people  for  service  in  the  town 
hall.  In  his  pastorate  he  had  care  of  about  3500  people,  and  the  parish  lines 


Rev.  THOMAS  E.  PURCELL.  Rev.  MARK  E.  PURCELL  (Deceased). 


Rev.  AUSTIN  O'GRADV. 


Rev.  J.  E.  GALVIN. 


V/ 


"V.  riA-"'^ 

•'.f;o^;' 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


125 


included  the  towns  of  Greenfield,  Turner’s  Falls,  Shelburne  Falls,  Conway, 
Coleraine  and  South  Deerfield. 

The  people  were  almost  entirely  of  the  Irish  race,  though  from  the  first 
there  was  a sprinkling  of  French  Canadians. 

There  are  four  parishes  now  within  the  old  parish  confines,  and  the 
Catholic  population  of  Greenfield  alone  is  upwards  to  2000. 

Father  Robinson’s  work  covering  so  wide  afield  was  necessarily  arduous 
in  the  extreme.  He  was  a convert,  young,  vigorous  and  naturally  somewhat 
overbearing.  The  people  had  been  a long  time  without  pastoral  restraint 
and  had  fallen  into  many  abuses.  They  were  going  astray,  and  the  young 
priest  in  his  hot  zeal,  undertook  to  whip  them  back  within  safe  lines.  The 
Irish  people  are  easily  lead  by  a priest,  but  it  needs  extraordinary  individu- 
ality in  the  man  who  would  drive  them.  Father  Robinson  was  soon  in  the 
midst  of  a score  of  quarrels,  and  the  parish  was  divided  with  the  order-loving 
portion  standing  by  the  priest,  the  others  who  thought  their  rights  retrenched, 
making  fierce  attack  upon  him.  The  trouble  culminated  in  a law  suit  concern- 
ing the  right  of  burial  of  a suicide  in  the  Catholic  cemetery.  This  trial  settled 
the  trouble  permanently,  and  established  the  claims  of  the  ecclesiastical  au- 
thorities to  control  the  consecrated  burying  groiinds.  The  old  cemetery  over 
which  occurred  this  litigation,  though  yet  in  the  name  of  the  bishop,  has 
been  in  disuse  ever  since.  All  burials  of  the  Catholics  take  place  in  the  new 
cemetery  then  opened. 

Father  Robinson  was  transferred  to  Uxbridge  in  August,  1871,  and  wait- 
ing the  appointment  of  a new  pastor,  the  parish  was  put  in  the  charge  of 
Father  Quaille,  at  that  time  his  assistant.  On  the  last  day  of  September 
that  same  year.  Father  McManus  came  as  the  pastor  to  Greenfield.  He,  as 
Father  Robinson,  had  Franklin  county  in  his  care.  One  year  later,  he  was 
sent  to  Hinsdale,  and  Father  Quaille  was  again  in  charge  till  the  appoint- 
ment of  Rev.  Walter  Henneberry,  November  5,  1872.  At  Father  Henne- 
berry’s  coming  Turner’s  Falls  was  set  apart  as  a parish,  and  Rev.  P.  M. 
Quaille  became  the  pastor. 

Father  Henneberry’s  pastorate  was  a peaceful  one,  and  every  year  of  it 
made  him  more  beloved  by  the  people  with  whom  he  lived  and  to  whose 
spiritual  care  his  energies  were  wholly  given.  But  long  driyes  over  the 
rugged  hills  in  all  sorts  of  weather,  the  only  way  of  reaching  the  widejy  scat- 
tered  people,  told  on  his  health  ; and,  before  a decade  of  years^l3ad"^|5assed, 
he  was  laid  away  to  rest  while  the  multitude  mourned  and  his  bj'o'ther  priests 
who  loved  him  stood  in  tears  about  his  coffin.  Father  Henneberry  built 
during  his  pastorate  the  present  presbytery.  He  was  succeeded,  by  R^v> 
Jeremiah  McCarthy,  then  pastor  of  Monson.  Father  McCarthy  was  an  ix- 
Jesuit,  had  unusual  natural  ability,  and  was  everywhere  recognized  as  a Very 
learned  man.  Six  months  after  his  appointment,  he  was  shot  to  death  in  his 
own  doorway  by  a cowardly  assassin,  who  was  the  disreputable  husband  of  a 
near  relative  to  the  priest.  The  murderer  was  brought  to  trial  at  Greenfield, 
and  the  case  attracted  wide  attention.  The  man  was  a Free  Mason,  and  it 
was  openly  said  that  his  craft  would  shield  him.  The  fact  is,  that  though 


12G 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGFIELD. 


there  was  no  question  of  the  mixrder,  nor  of  the  fact  that  the  man  came 
armed,  prepared  to  do  it,  the  jury  let  him  walk  from  the  court-house  free. 

Rev.  Terrence  Smith,  now  pastor  of  Pittsfield  (1899),  succeeded  Father 
McCarthy  in  December,  1881,  and  labored  here  a year  and  a half. 

Then  came  Rev.  Daniel  H.  O’Neil,  to-day  pastor  of  St.  Peter’s  church, 
Worcester,  for  seven  months,  when  in  May,  1884,  Rev.  Mark  E.  Purcell,  the 
present  pastor,  who  had  already  served  as  curate  for  three  years,  was  named 
to  the  headship  of  the  parish. 

From  1868  to  1899  there  have  been  2570  baptisms  and  462  marriages, 
No  special  record  of  converts  has  been  kept. 

The  parish  possesses  a church  and  presbytery.  “ The  people,”  the  pas- 
tor writes,  “are  a simple,  conservative  body  ; only  a few  are  in  business  life, 
and,  being  a small  minority,  they  do  not  enjoy  any  political  prominence.” 

Rev.  Mark  Purcell,  the  pastor,  was  born  at  Weymouth,  Mass.,  January 
8,  1850.  He  made  his  classical  studies  at  Dudley  Academy,  Webster,  and  at 
the  University  of  Ottawa.  He  was  ordained  a priest  June  7,  1878.  During 
his  time  of  curacy,  he  did  service  at  Thorndike,  Indian  Orchard,  Holyoke 
and  Greenfield.  Now  after  fifteen  years  as  pastor,  he  is  yet  in  rugged  health, 
light  of  heart,  fond  of  pleasantry,  and  never  so  happy  as  when  by  his  own 
hearth  he  is  shrewdly  and  humorously,  but  all  the  while  kindly,  philosophi- 
zing on  men  and  things  as  he  sees  them  in  the  passing  world.  Yet  he  is  not 
always  doing  this  ; he  has  seriously  labored  and  to  good  purpose,  as  the  raised, 
enlarged,  and  tastefully  decorated  church,  the  well-kept  grounds  and  neat 
presbytery  can  testify,  and  the  full  church  societies  in  his  parish  prove. 

The  curates  of  this  parish  have  been.  Rev.  P.  McGreavy  for  six  months, 
and  Rev.  T.  A.  Vaudirs  for  a like  term.  Rev.  P.  Quaille  served  three  years. 
Rev.  John  Kenny,  six.  Rev.  T.  Hannigan,  four,  and  Rev.  William  T.  Sherry, 
ten. 

ST.  JOHN’S  CHURCH, 

Miller's  Falls. 


I LEER’S  FALLS,  with  Northfield  as  mission  attached,  is  an  offshoot 
t:  I :=f  of  St.  Mary’s  at  Turner’s  Falls.  It  was  made  a parish  June  15th, 
I gJIU  I ^ 1898,  and  Rev.  John  S.  Nelligan  was  made  the  first  resident 
pastor.  It  possesses  a church,  built  by  Father  Quaille  in  1897, 
and  dedicated  May  30,  1898,  under  the  patronage  of  St.John.  Right  Rev. 
Bishop  Beaven  was  the  officiating  prelate,  and  Rev.  R.  S.  J.  Burke  preached 
the  dedicatory  sermon.  St.  Patrick’s  church,  Northfield,  was  built  by  Father 
Quaille  in  1886.  It  is  a frame  building,  situated  on  the  best  street  of  the  town 
and  it  cost  $9,000. 

The  first  Mass  said  in  Miller’s  Falls  of  which  there  is  any  memory  was 
offered  in  the  home  of  Patrick  Rouse,  which  then  stood  on  the  exact  site  of 
the  present  church.  This  Mass  was  said  by  Father  O’Reilly,  of  Brattleboro, 
Vermont,  who  came  to  attend  a dying  Catholic,  and,  remaining  over  night, 
said  Mass  in  the  morning  for  the  twenty  Catholic  people  gathered  at  his  call. 
This  was  in  1848.  Father  Reilly  showed  kindly  interest  in  the  people,  and 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


127 


spent  some  hours  of  the  morning  instructing  their  children  in  Catechism. 
A child,  Mary  Hayes,  who  was  especially  prompt  in  reply,  was  rewarded  by 
him,  and,  when  he  came  at  intervals  thereafter  for  a year,  like  rewards  were 
given  to  other  deserving  children.  The  people  now  number  three  hundred 
souls,  and,  as  in  the  beginning,  are  Irish  by  birth  or  descent. 

The  first  Mass  said  in  Northfield  was  on  November  lo,  1872,  in  the  house 
of  James  Barry  and  by  Father  Quaille,  who  that  same  day  had  said  his  first 
Mass  as  rector  at  Turner’s  Fails.  The  parish  possesses  two  churches.  The 
new  pastor  is  now  engaged  in  building  a Presbytery.  The  Catholic  people 
stand  well  in  the  community.  Several  are  in  business,  and  socially  they  “are 
not  distinct  from  their  neighbors.” 

Father  Nelligan  was  born  in  Pittsfield,  January  6th,  1857,  was  educated 
at  Troy,  N.  Y.,  and  ordained  by  Bishop  O’Reilly  at  Holyoke,  December 
27th,  1884.  He  served  as  curate  iu  Southbridge,  Worcester,  Hinsdale  and 
Monson,  where  he  was  at  labor  when  appointed  to  his  present  position. 


ST.  JOSEPH’S  CHURCH, 

Shelburne  Falls. 

Missions. — St.  John  Baptist' s,  Coterain ; St.  Mark's,  Conway. 

IT  is  said  that  more  than  forty  years  ago  Conway,  Colerain  and  Shelburne 
Falls  were  occasionally  visted  by  the  priests  of  Holyoke,  and  afterwards 
by  those  of  Northampton  and  North  Adams.  In  more  modern  times 
Father  Gagnier’s  services  are  remembered  here,  as  are  those  of  Father 
Crevier,  Father  Henneberry,  and  Father  John  Kenny.  Once,  before  the 
erection  of  the  chapel  at  Colerain,  Father  Laflamme  of  the  diocese  of  St. 
Hyacinthe  said  Mass  there.  When  Father  Robinson  was  made  pastor  of 
Greenfield,  Conway,  Colerain  and  Shelburne  Falls  knew  his  services.  His 
successor  in  Greenfield,  Father  J.  McCarthy,  began  the  building  of  a church 
in  Conway.  His  sad  death  left  its  completion  to  Father  Purcell,  his  succes- 
sor, by  whose  direction  it  was  dedicated  under  the  patronage  of  St.  Mark. 

Before  the  building  of  the  church  Mass  was  said  at  regular  intervals  in 
the  old  town  school-house. 

In  1883  the  French  people  of  Colerain  petitioned  the  bishop  for  a priest, 
and  Rev.  John  F.  Lee  was  sent  to  them.  He  lived  in  Shelburne  Falls.  His 
parish  lines  reached  from  Greenfield  to  North  Adams.  In  Father  Lee’s  time  a 
small  frame  chapel  was  in  use  in  Griswoldville. 

In  1885  Father  Lee  was  removed,  and  Rev.  Agapit  Legris  was  sent  by 
the  bishop  in  his  stead.  Two  years  later  Father  Jeannotte  succeeded  Father 
Legris.  At  this  time  Mass  was  said  in  the  “ houses  of  the  people,”  in  that  of 
Mr.  Meehan,  Mr.  O’Brien  and  Mr.  Farren,  now  of  Turner’s  Falls.  As  the 
congregation  increased  the  people  went  to  “Whitney  Hall,”  “Union  Hall,” 
and  finally  to  the  “Odd  Fellows’  Hall.”  One  day  the  Odd  Fellows  refused 
their  place  to  them,  and  Father  Jeannotte  immediately  began  the  building  of  a 
church.  The  enthusiastic  people  helped  him  generously,  and  in  a short  time 
he  had  on  hand  $2,500,  with  which  he  bought  the  land  whereon  he  afterwards 
built  the  present  church. 


128 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Rev.  J.  C.  Allard  succeeded  Father  Jeannotte  in  1891.  In  turn  he  was 
promoted  to  Turner’s  Falls  in  February,  1893.  During  his  stay  in  this  parish 
he  paid  off  $500  of  a debt  and  sought  out  the  Catholics  living  at  Rowe,  “Davis 
Mines  ” and  other  stations.  Father  Balthasard,  came  at  once  to  replace 
Father  Allard. 

The  prospects  that  faced  him  were  not  encouraging.  The  woolen  mills 
in  Conway  had  closed  and  two-thirds  of  the  people  had  departed.  The  Shel- 
burne Falls  cutleries  had  been  working  less  than  half  time  for  five  years,  and 
the  Colerain  people,  who  worked  for  low  wages,  were  not  able  to  help  him 
greatly.  He  was  obliged  to  depend  on  the  means  that  could  be  furnished  by 
one  hundred  and  thirty  families.  He  worked  with  strong  heart,  however, 
and  before  1895  had  finished  and  decorated  the  Shelburne  Falls  church  and 
built  a parochial  residence. 

The  great  stretch  of  territory  embraced  by  the  parish  lines  necessarily 
brought  the  pastor  at  times  severe  hardships.  In  his  “History  Report,’’ 
made  to  the  bishop  August  14,  1898,  Father  Balthasard,  telling  of  the  long 
drives  over  the  mountains,  writes  of  a priest,  who  in  answering  a sick  call 
one  Sunday,  drove  fifty  miles  in  February  weather,  and  in  so  doing,  was 
“ forty  hours  without  sleep  and  twenty-two  hours  without  food  or  drink.’’ 

The  baptism  and  marriage  records  are  not  to  be  found  here,  though  rec- 
ord has  been  made  by  the  pastor  of  ten  conversions  from  Protestantism  of 
people  “ who  had  married  or  were  going  to  marry  Catholics.’’ 

In  this  parish  connection  it  is  intere.sting  to  note  that  Colerain,  so  called 
from  Lord  Colerain,  of  Ireland,  was  partly  settled  by  Irish  emigrants.  “ Some 
of  them  emigrated,’’  says  Dr.  Holland,  “from  the  province  of  Ulster,  in  1819; 
others  did  not  leave  Ireland  until  about  the  time  of  the  settlement  of  the 
town,  in  1736.  Many  of  them  lived  in  Londonderry,  N.  H , and  some  in 
Woburn,  Stow,  Roxbury  and  Pelham,  in  this  State,  after  their  arrival  in 
America,  before  they  settled  in  Colerain.  They  were  a robu.st  set  of  men,  six 
feet  or  more  in  height,  with  frames  of  corresponding  size;  possessing  consti- 
tutions capable  of  great  endurance  and  fitted  for  any  emergency.’’ 

Thomas  McGee,  “a  Protestant  from  Ireland,’’  Barber  calls  him,  was  a 
deacon  here  under  a Presbyterian  pastor.  Rev.  Alexander  McDowell,  and  was 
one  of  the  most  prominent  men  of  his  time.  Mr.  McDowell,  the  first  minis, 
ter  (1753),  was  an  Irishman,  and  in  his  congregation  here  we  find  a number  of 
Irish  names  as  James  Steward,  Hugh  McClellan,  John  Cockran,  J.  Clark, 
Matthew  Clark,  David  Morri.son  and  J.  Henry.  David  Cockran  was  after- 
wards killed  by  the  Indians  and  David  Morrison  captured.  J.  Morrison  and 
John  Henry  were  wounded  near  Morrison’s  fort,  but  made  their  escape.  In 
1759  J.  McCowen  and  his  wife  were  captured  and  their  son  killed. 

Dr.  Holland  says  that  this  first  minister,  Mr.  McDowell,  “was  a gradu- 
ate of  Harvard,  though  a native  of  Ireland.  He  was  dismissed  in  1761  on 
account  of  intemperance.” 

Perhaps  something  of  this  early  “North  of  Ireland  ” quality  yet  obtains 
in  this  neighborhood,  for  Father  Balthasard  writes  that  “a  certain  Protest- 
ant spirit  has  always  prevailed  in  all  the  missions,  which  would  not  permit 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


120 


the  priests  any  control  in  temporal  matters.”  “And  a spirit  of  suspicion,” 
he  continues,  “ covetousness  and  distrust,  together  with  a great  amount  of 
drunkenness,  still  exists.” 

Since  the  writing  of  the  above  Father  Balthasard  has  been  succeeded  by 
Rev.  James  Galvin,  who  was  born  at  Uxbridge,  Mass.,  studied  classics  and 
theology  at  Montreal  and  was  there  ordained  in  1892.  He  was  a curate  of 
Rev.  Dr.  Conaty,  of  Worcester,  and  at  different  times  was  pastor  of  North- 
boro,  East  Douglass  and  West  Boylston,  from  which  last  place  he  was  called 
to  Shelburne  Falls. 

ST.  MARY’S  CHURCH, 

turner’s  falls. 


IN  1870,  and  for  two  years  afterwards.  Turner’s  Falls  knew  the  spiritual 
care  of  Rev.  Henry  L.  Robinson,  then  pastor  of  Greenfield,  who  gave 
the  people  a parish  formation  that  same  year,  and  built  for  them  a frame 
church,  which  answered  their  needs  until  the  midsummer  of  1888. 

In  1872  Turner’s  Falls  was  made  a parish,  with  Miller’s  Falls,  North- 
field,  Orange,  Wendell,  Warwick  and  Erving  as  out-lying  missions.  Father 
Quaille,  who  had  been  Father  Robinson’s  curate,  was  made  the  first  resident 
pastor.  He  came  November  5,  1872,  and  said  his  first  Ma.ss  for  the  people 
November  the  loth  following.  Father  Robinson’s  church  was  30  x 60  feet 
in  size,  and  was  severely  plain.  It  still  stands,  and  is  used  for  Sunday-school 
work  and  for  Masses  during  the  week.  The  first  two  years  of  Father  Quaille’s 
pastorate  were  filled  with  many  hardships,  not  the  least  of  which  was  life  in 
the  hotel.  The  presbytery  he  built  in  1873  and  1874,  and  in  the  latter  year 
purchased  fifteen  acres  of  land  for  the  cemetery. 

With  the  coming  of  new  industries  to  Turner’s  F'alls  Catholics  increased 
rapidly,  and  Father  Quaille  saw  the  need  of  a larger  church.  The  people 
encouraged  him  to  build,  so  that  in  the  early  spring  of  1877  the  first  contract 
for  the  building  of  St.  Mary’s  church  was  given  out,  and  in  the  December 
following  the  exterior  walls  were  up  and  the  building  roofed.  July  4th  of 
the  next  year  the  corner-stone  was  laid.  The  basement  was  finished  and 
ready  for  service  in  1892.  The  church  is  the  creation  of  architect  James 
Murphy,  of  Providence.  It  is  of  brick  with  granite  trimmings,  is  130  feet 
long  and  64  feet  wide ; from  sidewalk  to  top  of  cross  the  spire  rises  200  feet. 
It  is  Romanesque  in  style,  and  will  seat  1000  people.  It  is  beautifully  situ- 
ated on  a spacious  lot  where  four  streets  converge,  and  which  is  large  enough 
to  meet  any  parish  needs  likely  to  come  within  the  next  half  a hundred 
years. 

With  the  cutting  off  of  Miller’s  Falls  and  Northfield,  Turner’s  Falls  is 
left  without  missions.  Ervdng  and  Wendell  are  attended  from  Miller’s  Falls, 
Orange  from  Athol.  The  first  Mass  said  in  Erving  was  on  Sunday,  Novem- 
ber 17,  1872,  by  Rev.  Father  Quaille,  in  the  home  of  Patrick  H.  Moran.  The 
first  Mass  in  Orange  was  on  Sunday,  January  12,  1873,  by  the  same  priest,  in 
the  house  of  Michael  McCarthy.  Forty  persons  were  present  at  this  Mass, 
fifteen  of  whom  received  Holy  Communion.  The  first  Mass  in  Wendell  was 


130 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


said  by  Father  Quaille,  August  20,  1882,  in  a shanty  belonging  to  the  Fitch- 
burg Railway  company.  It  was  then  the  home  of  the  men  working  on  the 
railroad.  One  hundred  and  ten  were  present  at  the  Mass,  and  sixty-five  re- 
ceived Holy  Communion. 

The  parish  had,  in  1872,  about  2500  souls.  The  people  were  of  Irish, 
French  Canadian,  Bohemian,  German,  Polish  or  Italian  blood,  with  some 
native  Americans.  Since  the  founding  of  the  parish  for  the  Canadians,  and 
the  erection  of  the  new  parish  at  Miller’s  Falls,  there  are  still  1350  souls  in 
the  parish. 

Since  1872,  to  December,  1898  21  ii  baptisms,  375  marriages  and  28  con- 
verts from  Protestantism  make  the  records  on  the  registers.  The  converts 
are  spoken  of  by  the  pastor  as  of  “good  character.”  For  twenty-seven  years 
without  a break,  with  the  exception  of  one  vacation  in  the  summer  of  1878, 
Father  Quaille  has  worked  continuously  in  this  county.  He  has  borne  the 
hardships  of  the  long  drives  to  the  mission  in  the  heat  of  the  summer  and  the 
biting  frosts  of  the  winter.  Hast  year,  therefore,  the  bishop  transferred  him 
to  Millbury,  where  his  labors  will  be  lighter  and  his  last  days  have  promise 
of  quiet. 

The  curates  in  this  parish  have  been  Revs.  C.  J.  Boy  Ian,  nigh  to  three  years  ; 
John  T.  Madden,  close  to  four  years ; J.  T.  Leonard,  three  months ; Thomas 
Reynolds,  nine  months  ; M.  J.  Coyne,  five  years;  James  Gilday,  five  months; 
M.  O.  Ahearn,  two  years;  T.  P.  McDonald,  two  years;  James  Cruse,  five 
months,  and  J.  P.  McDonald,  for  a second  term,  to  the  transfer  to  Millbury 
of  his  pastor,  whom  he  accompanied  to  the  new  field  of  labor. 

Father  Quaille  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Thomas  Purcell,  then  pastor  of 
Otter  River.  Father  Purcell  was  born  in  Ballinwilling,  County  Waterford, 
Ireland,  was  educated  at  Mt.  Mellory  and  at  St.  John’s  College,  Waterford 
City;  later  he  studied  in  France,  and  was  ordained  in  September,  1884,  in 
Waterford.  He  served  curacies  at  Westboro,  Webster  and  at  the  cathedral 
in  Springfield. 

He  is  a strong  man  physically  and  mentally.  Great  work  awaits  his 
hand  in  Turner’s  Falls,  and  those  who  know  him  best  think  him  fit  to  meet  it. 

ST.  ANN’S  CHURCH, 

Turner’s  Falls. 

(5  I HE  French-speaking  people  of  Turner’s  Falls  were  1200  souls  in  July, 
1884,  and  on  the  12th  of  that  month  Bishop  O’Reilly  sent  them  as 
pastor  Rev.  J.  Edmond  Perreault.  Father  Perreault  was  met  at  his 
coming  by  Mr.  B.  N.  Farren,  who  welcomed  the  priest  and  promised  personal 
assistance.  Mr.  Farren  possesses  great  wealth  which  by  his  own  energies  he 
has  amassed.  He  encouraged  the  priest  to  build  at  once,  and  the  young  priest 
heeded  the  advice.  ]\Ir.  Farren  helped  him  then,  and  has  remained  a steadfast 
friend  to  the  parish  ever  since. 

He  sought  plans,  began  the  work  at  once,  and  had  the  basement  of  the 
present  church  of  St.  Ann  ready  for  service  before  the  end  of  the  next  year. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


131 


In  the  following  year,  1866,  he  built  the  present  rectory.  The  first  Mass  said 
for  his  people  he  offered  in  the  “skating  rink,”  and  afterwards  they  gathered 
in  Clapp’s  Hall  until  the  church  was  ready.  In  1889  he  finished  the  super- 
structure, and  on  the  iith  of  May,  in  1890,  the  church  was  dedicated  under 
the  patronage  of  St.  Ann.  In  1892  he  bought  land  for  a parochial  school, 
but  in  February,  1893,  he  was  succeeded  in  the  pastorate  by  Rev.  Joseph  C. 
Allard. 

In  the  summer  of  Father  Allard’s  first  year  he  began  to  prepare  the  land 
for  a school  building.  He  commenced  the  work  upon  this  school  in  Novem- 
ber, 1895,  and  on  September  8,  1896,  two  hundred  and  twenty  pupils  came  to 
the  four  Sisters  of  St.  Ann  (Sister  M.  Antoine  superior),  who  that  day  became 
the  teachers  in  the  first  parochial  school  within  the  confines  of  Franklin 
County.  Now  there  are  two  hundred  and  fifty,  nearly  all  the  Canadian  chil- 
dren of  school  age,  studying  in  the  seven  grades,  which  as  yet  make  up  the 
full  school  curriculum. 

The  parish  now  has  1400  French-Canadians  and  one  hundred  Poles.  It 
possesses  a plot  of  land  two  hundred  and  forty  feet  long  by  two  hundred  and 
thirty  feet  wide.  Hereon  stand  the  church,  the  rectory  and  the  splendid 
school,  all  of  brick.  The  parish  also  controls  a cemetery.  It  has  had  since 
its  foundation  1219  baptisms,  209  marriages,  and  one  conversion  from  Protest- 
antism. This  was  of  a man  on  his  death-bed.  “The  people,”  writes  Father 
Allard,  “are  highly  respected;  they  are  represented  in  all  branches  of  busi- 
ness, trades  and  labor ; their  political  influence  has  not  been  great  so  far, 
though  some  have  held  minor  offices.  A few  own  their  own  homes.” 

Father  Allard  was  born  at  St.  Valerian,  P.  Q.,  May  28,  i860.  He  studied 
at  St.  Hyacinthe,  and  was  there  ordained  May  30,  1889.  He  already  belonged 
to  the  diocese  of  Springfield.  He  served  as  curate  to  Father  Landry,  of 
Holyoke,  for  a year  and  a half,  and  then  a few  months  at  Mittineague.  On 
the  first  day  of  January,  1891,  he  was  appointed  pastor  of  Shelburne  Falls; 
thence  he  came  to  St.  Ann’s.  He  is  an  active,  scholarly  man,  well  liked  and 
trusted  by  the  people  of  Turner’s  Falls  in  and  out  of  his  parish. 


HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 


ST.  BRIDGET’S  CHURCH, 

Amherst. 

(5  The  college  town,  Amherst,  originally  called  “Hadley  East,”  or  “Third 
^ I Precinct,”  and  incorporated  in  1759,  was,  so  far  as  known,  first  visited 
by  a Catholic  priest.  Rev.  James  Fitton,  about  fifty-seven  years  ago. 
Father  Fitton  himself  says  this  in  his  “Sketch  of  the  Church  in  New 
England.” 

The  people  had  regular  attendance  from  Rev.  Jeremiah  O’Callaghan,  then 
of  Holyoke,  for  some  time  before  the  year  i860.  He  said  Mass  at  each  visit 
in  the  home  of  John  Slattery,  as  also  did  his  successor  in  the  pastorate  at 


132 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Holyoke,  the  Rev.  James  O’Sullivan.  So  few  were  the  Catholics  then  that 
one  small  room  sufficed  for  all  who  came.  Shortly  after  the  coming  of  Father 
O’Sullivan,  however,  the  number  increased ; the  school-house  on  Pleasant  stree 
was  then  engaged,  and  after  another  space  there  were  people  enough  gather- 
ing to  warrant  the  use  of  “College  Hall.’’  When  Northampton  was  made  a 
parish,  with  Rev.  P.  V.  Moyce  as  pastor,  Amherst  became  a mission  thereto. 
In  1869  the  land  on  which  now  stands  the  church  was  bought,  and  Father 
Moyce  had  begun  the  building  of  St.  Bridget’s.  It  was  dedicated  June  25, 
1871. 

In  the  next  year  Amherst  was  given  parish  dignity  by  Bishop  O’  Reilly, 
with  the  Rev.  Francis  Brennan,  who  remained  till  loss  of  health  forced  his 
departiire  in  1878,  its  first  pastor. 

It  became  a mission  of  Northampton  once  more  in  this  same  year,  and 
knew  the  care  of  the  priests  of  Northampton  under  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  M. 
E Barry  thence  on  to  the  appointment  of  Rev.  John  B.  Drennan  as  resident 
rector  in  1887.  Father  Drennan  was  the  pastor  of  St.  Bridget’s  for  four  years. 
He  purchased  the  parochial  residence,  and  when  made  pastor  of  Southbridge 
was  succeeded  by  Rev.  John  H.  Gavin. 

From  February,  1872,  to  June,  1878,  there  were  364  baptisms  and  48 
marriages.  From  June,  1878,  to  the  appointment  of  Father  Drennan,  the 
account  of  baptisms  and  marriages  is  in  that  of  Northampton,  but  from 
December,  1887,  to  August  15,  1898,  there  were  415  baptisms  and  135  mar- 
riages. Two  converts,  “ people  of  respectable  character,’’  came  to  the  church 
since  September,  1891.  Father  Gavin’s  spiritual  realm  extends  over  land 
enough  for  a kingdom,  though  the  souls  within  the  confines  are  said  to  be 
but  721.  He  is  master  in  spirituals  of  Amherst,  Hadley,  North  Hadley, 
Shutesbury,  Pelham,  Prescott  and  Leverett,  with  parts  both  of  Belchertown 
and  Sunderland.  The  Catholic  people  of  Amherst  have  benefited  by  associa- 
tion, and  there  is  here  as  high  an  order  of  intelligence  as  is  found  in  the  same 
class  in  any  other  college  town.  Professor  Goesmann,  who  is  known  through- 
out this  country  as  an  expert  in  chemistry,  and  who  teaches  that  science  in 
the  State  Agricultural  College,  is  a Catholic;  and  here  with  him  lives  his 
gifted  daughter,  Helena,  well  and  favorably  known  as  of  marked  ability 
amongst  the  younger  set  of  our  Catholic  literary  workers.  Judge  William 
Slattery,  who  died  at  Holyoke,  July  22,  1899,  was  reared  and  educated  at 
Amherst  and  was  superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school  before  the  regular 
coming  of  the  priests.  Many  of  the  Catholic  families  have  sent  out  their 
children  from  this  old  academic  town  into  the  neighboring  cities  for  business 
and  for  life  in  the  learned  professions.  At  home  the  Amherst  Catholic  peo- 
ple, who  are  mainly  Irish,  or  of  that  descent,  are  known  as  quiet,  thrifty  and 
.self-respecting.  With  the  exception  of  one  or  two  small  ripples  at  different 
times,  the  flow  of  kindly  feeling  between  pastor  and  people  has  never  had  a 
sign  of  storm  upon  its  face. 

All  has  been  as  peaceful  as  a meadow  brook,  and  at  110  time  has  religious 
life  sung  more  .softly  than  in  the  years  that  tell  of  Father  Gavin.  He  came 
to  Amherst  September  5,  1891.  Already  had  he  served  as  assistant  at  Clinton 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


188 


five  and  a half  years  (from  December,  1882,  when  he  was  ordained  at  Mon- 
treal after  a course  of  theology  in  its  Grand  Seminar^'),  at  Holyoke  half  a 
year,  and  at  Leominster,  his  native  place,  for  three  years.  He  is  a graduate 
of  the  schools  of  Worcester,  where  he  was  reared,  and  of  Holy  Cross  College, 
where  he  won  his  bachelor’s  degree  in  1 879. 

IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION  CHURCH. 

Easthampton. 

IN  1704  Nashawannock,  now  Easthampton,  was  attacked  by  the  Indians, 
many  of  the  settlers  were  killed  and  some  taken  captive  to  Canada. 
Elisha  Searle,  a lad,  was  amongst  the  number.  He  became  a Catholic 
while  in  Canada  and  grew,  says  Dr.  Holland,  in  his  history  of  Massachusetts, 
“so  attached  to  Canadian  and  Indian  life  that  for  many  years  after,  when  he 
returned  to  the  scene  of  his  early  life,  it  was  with  great  difficulty  he  was  per- 
suaded to  remain.”  Elisha  Searle,  therefore,  was  the  first  white  Catholic 
known  among  the  inhabitants  of  Easthampton. 

The  first  Mass  here  was  said  by  Father  Hannigan  some  time  in  1864; 
there  were  fifty  persons  present.  He  then  was  assistant  to  Rev.  James  Sulli- 
van, the  pastor  of  Holyoke,  and  attended  the  people  of  Easthampton  for  a 
few  months  only.  Before  Father  Hannigan,  however.  Father  Blenkinsop,  of 
Chicopee,  had  administered  the  sacraments  to  a man  lying  sick  in  a brick 
house  near  what  was  then  known  as  the  “ covered  bridge.”  In  1854,  J.  S. 
Meary,  still  living,  was  the  first  Catholic  young  man  employed  in  the  mill. 
Six  Catholic  young  women  were  employed  at  the  same  time. 

In  1868  the  first  church  was  built  by  Rev.  P.  V.  Moyce,  then  pastor  of 
Northampton,  and  in  January,  1871,  Rev.  Father  Toomy  was  made  the  first 
resident  pastor.  Father  M.  E.  Barry  had  been  appointed  the  first  pastor 
before  him,  but  had  been  recalled  and  sent  by  the  bishop  to  Northampton. 
Father  Toomy  died  October  12,  1873,  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  R.  J.  Dono- 
van. After  Father  Donovan’s  death,  which  occurred  May  5,  1877,  Rev.  P. 
F.  Callery  was  named  pastor.  In  November,  1878,  Father  Callery  was  pro- 
moted to  Florence,  and  on  the  23rd  of  the  same  month  and  year  came  the  pres- 
ent pastor.  Rev.  Richard  F.  Walsh.  Father  Walsh  has  been  assisted  by  Father 
Prendergast,  who  came  in  January,  1886,  and  remained  four  years,  and  by 
Rev.  Daniel  Sheehan,  who  has  done  duty  since  1895. 

There  have  been  since  the  formation  of  the  parish,  1 240  baptisms,  30 1 
marriages  and  62  conversions.  These  converts  are  spoken  of  by  the  pastor 
as  : “ generally  good,  and  persevering.^’ 

The  parish  possesses  a beautiful  brick  church,  125  feet  long  and  64  feet 
wide,  built  in  1877  by  Father  Donovan,  and  rebuilt  in  1884  by  Father  Walsh  ; 
a parochial  residence,  spacious  and  well  arranged,  also  in  brick,  built  by 
Father  Walsh  in  1879,  and  a cemetery  of  thirteen  acres.  Father  Walsh  also 
bought  a splendid  property,  on  the  main  street  of  the  town  opposite  the  pub- 
lic library,  which  is  intended  eventually  for  a Catholic  convent  and  school. 
The  people  are  principally  of  Irish  blood,  though  there  are  Canadian 


134 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


French,  some  Poles  and  Italians  amongst  them.  They  are  of  good  repute 
in  the  community  and  are  known  as  thrifty  and  sober.  Of  late  years 
they  have  had  full  share  of  representation  in  the  public  offices.  Easthampton 
knows  its  Catholic  people  to  be  a power  in  its  moral  life.  There  are  1600 
souls  in  this  parish. 

The  people  of  Easthampton  have  been  tried  like  gold  in  the  furnace. 
The  handsome  frame  chiirch,  built  by  Father  Moyce  in  1868  was  burned  to 
the  ground  on  December  8,  1873.  But  with  stout  hearts,  Father  Donovan, 
then  the  pastor,  and  his  people,  began  immediately  the  building  of  a brick 
church,  and  'when  he  died  in  1 877,  it  was  up  and  roofed,  and  ^the  basement 
used  for  public  services. 

Rev.  R.  F.  Walsh  came  November  28,  1878.  Immediately  he  set  him- 
self to  the  work  of  completing  the  church.  It  was  to  be  dedicated  on  Easter 
Sunday,  1883.  Everything  was  in  order  for  the  dedication  on  the  evening  of 
Good  Friday,  when  a wild  alarm  at  midnight  awoke  the  sleeping  Catholics, 
and  anguish  for  the  second  time  wrung  their  hearts,  as  the  cry:  “The 
church  is  on  fire  ” rang  shivering  through  the  town.  Sixty-four  thousand 
dollars  the  church  had  cost,  and  but  twenty-two  thousand  were  received  in 
insurance.  But  again  they  joined  hands  and  hearts  for  the  building.  Their 
Protestant  neighbors  helped  them  generously,  and  the  pastor,  with  the 
bishop’s  permission,  went  up  and  down  the  diocese  telling  the  story  of  the 
people’s  loss,  and  receiving  everywhere  the  help  his  pitiful  story  earned.  On 
August  15,  1884,  the  church  was  again  rebuilt,  and  dedicated  by  Bishop 
O’Reilly.  Rev.  R.  S.  J.  Burke  preached  the  dedication  sermon.  The  church, 
which  is  in  modified  Gothic  style,  is  120  feet  long  and  62  feet  wide.  It  stands 
on  a plot  of  two  and  one  half  acres.  It  is  beautifully  decorated,  and  every- 
thing in  it  and  about  it  shows  care. 

Father  Walsh  was  born  in  Aglish,  county  Kilkenny,  Ireland,  and  at  St. 
John’s  College,  Waterford,  made  his  classical  and  theological  studies.  After 
another  year  of  preparation  at  Montreal,  he  was  there  ordained,  December 
23d,  1875.  As  curate  he  had  served  at  Worcester,  Holyoke,  and  Pittsfield. 
He  is  a strong,  large  man,  of  excellent  head  and  generous  heart.  The  writer 
has  heard  Bishop  O’Reilly  class  him  among  the  best  “ business  men  ” of  his 
diocese. 

CHURCH  OF  THE  ANNUNCIATION, 

Florence. 

KLORENCE  heard  Mass  for  the  first  time  in  1851  when  an  Irish  mis- 
sionary, whose  name  cannot  be  now  ascertained,  gathered  the  Catholic 
people  into  the  home  of  one  of  their  number.  There  were  then  but  three 
Catholics  families  in  the  town.  Five  years  after,  Rev.  Jeremiah  O’ Callaghan 
began  to  come  from  Holyoke  to  attend  the  people.  He  came  at  intervals 
when  possible,  saying  Mass  in  private  houses,  until  the  people  had  increased 
beyond  the  capacity  of  any  house.  Thenceforward  to  the  building  of  the 
church  in  Northampton,  Mass  was  said  in  a public  hall.  During  the  mission 
days  of  Father  O’Callaghan,  a Sunday-school  was  organized  under  his  direc- 
tion, and  instruction  was  regularly  given  the  children,  in  a public-school 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


135 


building.  Great  opposition  to  such  use  of  the  public-school  building  was  soon 
awakened,  and  Father  O’ Callaghan  was  forced  to  lead  his  children  for  cate- 
chism to  the  protecting  shade  of  a near-by  grove  of  trees.  Father  O’Callaghan 
attended  Florence  till  his  death  at  Holyoke. 

When  a Catholic  congregation  was  formed  at  Northampton  and  a church 
built  in  1845,  people  of  Florence  ceased  to  have  separate  service  and 
joined  in  the  public  service  at  Northampton.  Northampton  became  a parish 
in  1866,  and  Florence  became  the  mission.  Twelve  years  later,  Florence 
with  Leeds  and  Haydenville  and  adjoining  districts,  was  set  apart  as  a parish 
and  Rev.  Cornelius  J.  Foley  became  its  first  resident  pastor.  There  were  then 
in  the  new  parish  about  2000  Catholics.  For  a while.  Father  Foley  conducted 
religious  services  in  one  of  the  public  halls,  and  was  assisted  by  Rev.  James 
Boyle,  now  the  pastor  of  Ware. 

Father  Foley  remained  but  a few  months.  In  November  of  the  same 
year.  Rev.  P.  F.  Callery,  then  pastor  of  Easthampton,  came  in  his  stead. 
The  people  of  the  parish  for  some  reason  did  not  relish  the  change.  Public 
meetings  were  held  in  protestation,  and  delegations  were  sent  to  the  bishop 
to  oppose  Father  Callery’s  coming.  There  were  complaints,  and  tempests 
and  winds,  but  soon  all  was  quieted  by  the  tact  of  the  Bishop,  and  Father 
Callery  came  peacefully  into  possession.  It  was  like  the  country  after  a sum- 
mer storm,  everything  was  the  more  smiling  and  the  sweeter  because  of  it. 
The  people  learned  to  love  him  dearly,  and  he  deserved  their  love;  for  a 
kindlier  heart  never  beat  in  a priest’s  bosom  than  that  of  Father  Callery. 

Immediately  after  the  coming  of  Father  Foley  in  1878,  he  purchased  the 
present  parish  house  and  the  land  whereon  it  sits,  and  in  1880  Father  Callery 
built  the  church.  It  was  dedicated  October  3,  1880.  With  the  building  of 
the  church  came  the  formation  of  the  different  church  societies  in  which 
Father  Callery  was  very  successful ; but  just  when  everything  seemed  most 
promising  he  died  suddenly,  regretted  by  every  oneun  the  town,  whether  in  his 
own  church  or  out  of  it.  They  buried  him  beside  the  door-way  of  the  church 
built  by  himself,  and  loving  hearts  speak  to  God  for  him  daily  as  they  pass. 

For  seven  years  Father  Callery  had  as  assistant  Rev.  J.  J.  McMahon,  and 
he  naturally,  at  the  death  of  his  pastor,  was  named  by  the  bishop  to  carry  on 
the  pastoral  work.  Rev.  Thomas  P.  Lucey,  now  the  new  pastor  of  “ Bay  State,’’ 
was  sent  as  curate  to  Father  McMahon.  Three  years  filled  out  the  measure 
of  Father  McMahon’s  pastoral  service  in  Florence.  He  died  in  March,  1899, 
when  but  thirty-three  years  old.  As  his  predecessor,  he  was  deeply  mourned. 
When  named  pastor  he  was  young,  vigorous  and  bright ; had  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  the  parish  wants ; was  pleasant  of  face  and  manner,  and  gave  every- 
body reason  to  hope  great  things.  He  sleeps  in  the  city  of  his  boyhood, 
Fitchburg. 

In  April,  following  the  death  of  Father  McMahon,  Florence  by  itself  was 
made  a parish,  and  Rev.  P.  H.  Gallen  was  made  rector.  Father  Gallen  is 
still  in  charge. 

The  parish  records  show  1,400  souls.  The  people  are  mainly  of  Irish 
blood  with  a sprinkling  of  French  Canadians.  We  count  1,524  baptisms,  376 


136 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


marriages,  and,  in  the  last  decade  of  years,  seven  conversions  from  Protest- 
antism. Three  of  these  converts  were  people  of  prominence ; one  is  now  a 
priest  of  the  congregation  of  St.  Paul. 

The  parish  possesses  a good  church  capable  of  seating  600 ; a fairly  good 
parish  house,  with  stable  near  by,  and  an  acre  of  land  surrounding. 

In  the  business  life  of  the  town  the  Catholics  have  made  satisfactory 
headway.  For  many  years  they  have  had  marked  influence  in  the  local  gov- 
ernment, and  every  day  are  bettering  their  condition  socially.  J.  B.  O’Don- 
nell, Esq.,  has  been  the  Mayor  of  Northampton. 

Rev.  P.  H.  Gallen  was  born  on  St.  Patrick’s  Day,  1855,  in  Milford.  He 
was  educated  in  her  schools,  and  made  his  classical  studies  at  Holy  Cross 
under  the  Jesuits,  and  at  Alleghany  under  the  Franciscans.  He  was  ordained 
in  Springfleld  in  the  May  of  1881,  and  was  at  once  appointed  curate  at  St. 
John’s  church,  Worcester.  The  following  year  he  was  sent  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  church  at  Holyoke,  where  he  remained  till  May,  1883,  when  he  was 
called  to  St.  Paul’s  church,  Worcester.  After  six  years’  service  there  he  was 
promoted  to  the  pastorate  of  Florence. 

Father  Gallen  is  a man  of  reflned  tastes.  He  has  traveled  much,  and  has 
enjoyed  the  acquaintance  of  people  of  culture  ; he  is  fond  of  books  and  of  men 
and  women  who  love  books  ; he  is  studious,  and  has  his  doors  always  open  and 
loves  to  share  a place  by  his  hearth  with  priests  and  people  of  kindred  tastes. 

ST.  JOSEPH’S  CHURCH, 

HATFIEI.D. 

-T^l  ATFIELD’S  history  is  interwoven  with  that  of  Deerfield  in  many 
ways,  and,  like  Deerfield,  tells  of  suffering  in  the  Indian  Wars.  Its 
I ^ Catholic  history,  outside  its  Indian  story,  begins  with  Father 

Barry,  pastor  of  Northampton,  who  during  his  pastorate  said 
INIass  for  the  people  once  each  month  in  “Academy  Hall.”  After  him 
Father  John  Kenny  said  Mass  in  the  same  place  twice  each  month  till  the 
building  of  St.  Joseph’s  church,  wherein  Father  Kenny,  its  builder,  said  the 
first  Mass  on  New  Year’s  day,  in  1893.  This  church  was  dedicated  by  Bishop 
Beaven  July  2d  of  the  same  year.  Rev.  Michael  O’ Kane,  S.J.,  President  of 
Holy  Cross  College,  preached  the  sermon. 

In  July,  1895,  Deerfield  and  Hatfield  were  made  one  parish  under  the 
care  of  Rev.  R.  S.  J.  Burke,  but  in  January,  1899,  Hatfield  itself  was  given 
parish  dignity,  and  Rev.  Charles  J.  Boylan’  was  made  its  first  resident  pastor. 

There  are  600  souls  in  Hatfield,  made  up  of  Irish,  German,  French, 
Poles  and  their  children.  The  parish  owns  but  the  church. 

ST.  MARY’S  CHURCH, 

HAYDENVILLE. 

IN  Leeds,  now  belonging  to  the  parish  of  Haydenville,  but  also  a ward  of 
Northampton,  was  said  the  first  Mass  of  which  there  is  any  local  mem- 
ory. This  was  said  in  the  house  of  John  Foley,  at  “Straw  Hollow,” 
‘See  Hist.  St.  Charles  Church,  Pittsfield. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


137 


some  time  in  1834,  by  Rev.  James  Fitton,  who  says,  speaking-  of  the 
church  in  Northampton,  that  at  this  time  “ the  faithful  were  so  few  that  they 
were  accustomed  to  assemble  for  divine  worship  in  the  private  house  of  a 
very  worthy  Catholic  family  of  the  name  of  Foley.”  * Local  prints"  several 
times  have  said,  and  Catholic  authorities  have  repeated,  that  the  first  Mass 
was  said  July  26,  1840,  or  iu  1847,  by  Father  Fitton.  Both  dates  plainly  are 
wrong.  Father  Fitton  himself  says  it  was  in  1834,  and  we  know  that  Father 
Fitton  had  moved  to  Worcester  in  1837,  *^bat  Father  John  D.  Brady  was 
pastor  of  Chicopee  in  1841,  and  therefore  in  charge  of  all  this  district. 

Father  Brady  was  followed,  in  care  of  Haydenville,  by  Father  O’ Calla- 
ghan, first  pastor  of  Holyoke,  and  again  by  his  successor  iu  the  pastorate  there. 
Rev.  James  O’Sullivan. 

In  the  fall  of  1867  Father  P.  V.  Moyce,  then  pastor  of  Northampton, 
began  the  building,  at  Haydenville,  of  St.  Mary’s  church,  which  was  dedi- 
cated in  the  spring  of  1868  by  Bishop  Williams  of  Boston.  Before  the  build- 
ing of  the  church  Mass  was  said  in  the  home  of  Philip  Hamilton,  which  then 
stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  “ Brass  Shop.”  After  the  going  of  Mr.  Ham- 
ilton from  this  place  Mass  was  said  either  in  the  home  of  Pierce  Larkin  or 
that  of  John  Moakler. 

In  1878  Rev.  C.  Foley  was  made  the  pastor  of  Florence,  and  Hayden- 
ville was  given  as  a mission  to  his  care.  It  so  continued  attached  to  Flor- 
ence during  the  pastorates  of  Fathers  Callery  and  McMahon.  But  in  April, 
1889,  Rev.  W.  J.  Long,  who  then  was  a curate  at  Northampton,  was  appointed 
by  the  bishop  the  first  resident  pastor.  He  had  in  his  control  the  villages  of 
Haydenville,  Leeds,  Williamsburg  and  Goshen.  Three  mouths  after  his 
appointment  Father  Long  died,  and  Rev.  George  Fitzgerald  was  appointed 
to  succeed  him  August  12th  of  the  same  year. 

At  the  time  of  the  parish  formation  there  were  about  850  English-speak- 
ing people,  who,  almost  to  a man,  were  of  Irish  blood,  and  650  French  Can- 
adians. In  1898  the  pastor  counted  650  people  of  Irish  lineage  and  450  French. 

Up  to  January,  1898,  there  were  482  baptisms,  121  marriages  and  5 con- 
versions from  Protestantism.  Four  of  the  converts  were  young  men  who 
married  Catholic  girls,  and  the  fifth,  a young  woman  who  was  married  to  a 
Catholic  man.  “All  have  kept  the  faith,”  says  the  pastor,  “and  are  good 
and  practical  Catholics.” 

The  parish  possesses  a frame  church  well  furnished  and  in  good  condi- 
tion, valued  at  $18,000;  a neat  and  home-like  rectory  built  by  Father  Fitz- 
gerald in  1890,  at  a cost  of  $6500;  a home  for  the  sexton,  valued  at  $750; 
and  a cemetery  of  ten  acres,  which  cost  $1000  more.  In  addition  to  this, 
near  to  the  rectory,  the  parish  owns  a house  and  a lot  of  land  valued  at  $1650. 
The  whole  property  the  pastor  sums  up  as  worth  $27,900. 

“While  Catholics  have  not  been  prominent  in  business,  or  in  social  or 
political  life,”  writes  Father  Fitzgerald,  “they  begin  to  be  in  evidence  in  all 
three,  and  are  recognized  as  an  element  whose  importance  daily  grows.” 

* “Sketches,”  Rev.  James  Fitton,  p.  324. 

’ Hampshire  Daily  Herald. 


138 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Rev.  George  Fitzgerald,  the  present  rector,  was  born  at  Westminster,  Mass. 

He  studied  in  the  Worcester  schools,  and  then  went  to  St.  Michael’s  Col- 
lege, Toronto,  Canada,  for  his  classics.  Theology  he  studied  at  the  Grand 
Seminary,  Montreal,  and  was  there  ordained  December  23,  1882.  He  was 
assistant  at  Hinsdale  for  two  years,  and  at  Holyoke  for  four  years  more,  when 
he  was  promoted  to  the  pastorate  of  Haydenville. 

Father  Fitzgerald  is  a pastor  much  beloved.  He  is  young  and  strong  and 
zealous,  with  good  capacity  for  business,  and  of  a kindly  disposition,  which 
begets  the  confidence  of  people  with  whom  he  has  to  deal.  He  has  had 
marked  success  in  his  pastorate,  and  the  years  promise  more. 

ST.  THOMAS’  CHURCH, 

Huntington. 

(5  I HE  church  of  St.  Thomas,  in  Huntington,  lifts  its  cross  into  the  Hght^ 
^ I over  the  path  of  the  Boston  and  Albany  road,  as  it  climbs  the  hills  to 
Berkshire.  You  will  not  see  a Catholic  church  again  till  you  look 
down  into  the  pleasant  valley  at  Hinsdale. 

This  pretty  church  of  St.  Thomas  was  built  by  Rev.  Thomas  Smyth, 
then  pastor  of  Westfield,  in  1875,  and  the  parish  had  as  first  resident  pastor 
Rev.  Eawrence  Derwin,  who  was  chosen  by  Bishop  O’Reilly  in  1886. 

The  original  Catholics  were  Irish  immigrants,  who  came  to  work  on  the 
western  road.  It  is  very  probable  that  Father  Brady  and  Father  Cavanagh, 
and  possibly  Father  Fitton  before  either  of  them,  came  to  the  Irish  people 
here,  and  attended  to  their  religious  wants  in  the  forties. 

It  has  always  been  claimed,  and  is  in  print,  that  Father  William  Blenk- 
insop,  then  of  Chicopee,  said  the  first  Mass  here  in  the  year  1849. 

The  first  baptism  by  Father  Blenkinsop,  according  to  the  parish  records 
at  Chicopee,  was  that  of  Michael  Kelly,  son  of  John  and  Nancy,  October  12, 
1850.  His  first  IMass,  therefore,  could  not  have  been  said  earlier  than  that 
year.  It  was  in  the  house  purchased  a few  years  ago  from  Mrs.  E.  L.  Carri. 
gan  by  Thomas  Smith,  that  tradition  says  this  first  Mass  was  offered.  Fathers 
Purcell  and  Lynch  said  Mass  in  the  town  at  divers  times  thereafter. 

Yet  even  as  late  as  1866,  the  people  saw  the  priest  no  oftener  than  once  a 
month.  Father  M.  F.  X.  Carroll,  while  pastor  of  Westfield,  had  services  at 
stated  times,  first  in  a cottage  on  Basket  street,  and  thereafter  in  the  “ town 
hall.”  In  the  time  of  his  successor.  Father  Miglionico,  the  people  thought 
themselves  strong  enough  to  build  a small  church,  and  steps  were  taken  to 
that  end.  A site  was  purchased  near  the  “ Cold  Spring,”  and  some  hundreds 
of  dollars  were  expended  thereon  ; but  the  project  never  matured.  Then  the 
Whipple  estate,  whereon  the  church  now  stands,  was  purchased  by  Father 
Miglionico,  at  a cost  of  $2,500,  but  somehow,  neither  priest  nor  people 
seemed  to  have  heart  in  the  work,  and  the  church  idea  languished  till  the 
coming  of  Father  Thomas  Smyth  as  pastor  of  Westfield  and  the  missions. 

Father  Smyth  was  a man  of  more  energy  than  his  predecessor,  and, 
from  the  hour  of  his  coming,  had  the  confidence  of  the  people.  He  set  about 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


139 


the  building  in  right  earnest.  The  debt  of  the  mission  was  very  considera- 
ble,— all  that  Father  Miglionico  had  agreed  to  pay  for  the  church  site ; — and 
this,  with  other  difficulties,  that  had  arisen  from  mutual  misunderstandings 
on  the  part  of  priest  and  people,  hampered  the  new  pastor  for  a while  ; but  so 
generously  did  the  people  rally  to  his  earnest  call,  and  so  well  did  they  assist 
in  the  fair  of  1880,  wherein  they  made  one  thousand  dollars,  that  he  soon 
began  to  clearly  see  his  way  to  the  church  building. 

In  a public  meeting  of  the  parishioners,  called  immediately  after  the 
fair,  the  enthusiastic  people,  led  by  Thomas  Davis,  who  contributed  $25,  put 
into  the  pastor’s  hands  two  thousand  dollars  more.  He  commenced  the  work 
at  once.  A great  rock  rested  on  the  present  site  of  the  church  ; this  at  a heavy 
expense  was  blasted  away,  and  on  the  solid  ribs  of  the  mountain  the  church 
began  to  rise.  It  was  completed,  and  dedicated  by  Bishop  O’  Reilly,  Sep- 
tember 17th,  1881.  Rev.  P.  J.  Harkins  of  Holyoke  preached  the  dedicatory 
sermon. 

Shortly  thereafter  in  1886,  Father  Lawrence  Derwin  was  made  the  first 
pastor.  In  May,  1891,  Rev.  John  J.  Fallon  replaced  him,  and  was  in  turn 
followed,  July  13,  1896,  by  Rev.  R.  S.  J.  Burke.  In  December  of  the  same 
year  came  Rev.  Thomas  McLaughlin,  who  is  still  at  the  head. 

There  have  been,  since  the  formation  of  the  parish,  492  baptisms,  102 
marriages,  and  8 conversions  from  Protestantism.  Originally  the  Catholics 
were  Irish  or  of  Irish  origin;  now  from  a Catholic  population  of  950  souls, 
fully  one-third  are  French  Canadians,  or  their  children. 

The  parish  includes  the  towns  of  Chester,  Blanford,  Fairfield  and 
Russell.  Chester  is  soon  to  have  a church  of  its  own.  Father  Richard  Burke 
in  his  short  pastorate  saw  the  need,  and  took  the  initiative.  In  Father 
McLaughlin’s  control  already  there  is  a neat  sum,  and  he  plans  the  building 
of  the  new  church  for  the  closing  year  of  the  century. 

There  are  always  some  men  in  every  parish,  who  have  to  do  with  the 
building  up  of  the  house  of  God,  in  measure  beyond  their  neighbors.  When 
Thomas  Davis  gave  Father  Smyth  the  first  twenty-five  dollars,  he  was  on 
the  instant  followed,  in  gifts  as  great  as  means  permitted,  by  John  Doyle, 
David  Donovan,  Michael  Donohoe,  James  Buguey,  Philip  Smith,  Thomas 
Kennedy  and  Patrick  Crane.  In  the  number  of  pioneer  Catholics  of  the  town 
we  find  preserved  the  names  of  David  Donovan,  Patrick  Donovan,  John 
Doyle,  Patrick  Cooney,  Philip  Smith,  Timothy  Coleman,  Patrick  Nugent, 
Patrick  Hart,  Patrick  Maloney,  James  Mack,  Joseph  Nugent,  Thomas  Nugent, 
John  Kelly,  Thomas  Kelly,  John  Gorham,  John  Crotty,  Patrick  Doherty, 
David  Roach,  and  Thomas  Kennedy. 

The  pastor.  Rev.  Thomas  McLaughlin,  was  born  January  i,  1861,  at 
Clinton,  Mass.,  and  there  prepared  in  the  public  schools  for  entrance  into 
Ottawa  University.  After  a period  in  Canada,  he  entered  Boston  College, 
and  graduated  in  1882.  His  theological  studies  were  made  at  Montreal, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Fathers  of  St.  Sulpice,  and  December  19,  1885, 
he  was  ordained  a priest  in  the  Springfield  Cathedral.  He  was  immediately 
assigned  as  curate  to  Father  Purcell,  at  Pittsfield,  and  there  filled  out  the 


140 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


whole  term  of  his  curacy.  Father  McLaughlin  is  a man  of  good  parts,  is 
active,  capable  in  business  affairs,  and  of  pleasant  and  amiable  disposition. 
He  has  always  been  liked  by  the  people  he  has  served,  and  enjoys  to-day  the 
complete  good  will  of  the  citizens  of  Huntington. 

In  1897,  Joseph  Lafleur,  a parishioner,  who  is  a hotel-keeper,  made  Father 
McLaughlin  a gift  of  three  acres  of  land,  one  mile  and  a quarter  from  the 
town  center,  for  a parish  cemetery.  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Beaven  blessed  it  in 
the  summer  of  that  year. 

The  Catholic  people  of  the  town  as  a rule  are  of  the  working  class, 
though  some  are  well-to-do  farmers,  while  others  are  in  business  life.  They 
have  excellent  moral  reputation,  and  exercise  as  much  influence  in  the  civic 
life  of  the  town  as  should  be  looked  for  in  people  of  their  station. 

The  first  Mass  in  Fairfield,  one  of  the  missions  of  Huntington,  was  said  by 

Rev.  Thomas  Smyth,  in  the  machine  room  of  the  paper  mill.  All  the  people 

of  the  town.  Catholic  and  Protestant,  were  present.  The  superintendent,  Mr. 

Wilson,  was  amongst  them.  Until  new  machinery  was  needed  Mass  was  said 

there  once  each  month,  but  when  the  increasing  industry  left  insufficient 

space,  the  people  gathered  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Flood.  When  the  school  house 

with  hall  was  built.  Father  Smyth  said  Mass  therein  during  his  pastorate. 

» 

ST.  MARY’S  CHURCH, 

, Northampton. 

(5  I HE  township  of  Northampton  was  purchased  in  1653,  by  John  Pynchon, 
^ I Esq.,  for  the  planters,  from  Wawhillowa,  Nessahalant  Nassacokee  and 
four  others  f/ie  chief  and  proper  owners  “ for  one  hundred  fathom  of 
wampum  by  tale,  and  ten  coats,  besides  some  small  gifts,  in  hand  paid  to  the 
sachems  and  owners,  and  also  for  plowing  up  sixteen  acres  of  land  on  the 
east  side  of  Quonnecticut  river  the  ensuing  summer.”  ' 

In  1656,  “townsmen”  (selectmen)  were  chosen ; in  1657,  three  commis- 
sioners “as  a court  in  small  causes.”  That  same  year  the  town  appointed  an 
agent  “to  obtain  a minister  and  to  devise  means  to  prevent  the  excess  of 
liquors  and  cider  from  coming  to  the  town.” 

In  1704,  a body  of  French  and  Indians  came  upon  the  town,  but  were 
driven  off  by  the  watchful  settlers.  Very  likely  the  majority  of  the  maraud- 
ing party  were  Catholics.  The  Massachusetts''  Spy,  printed  at  Worcester 
November  20,  1825,  thus  tells  the  story  of  the  murder  of  Marcus  Lyon  by 
“two  merciless  ruffians”  in  Wilbraham  on  the  9th  of  that  same  month  : 
“The  villains  who  perpetrated  the  awful  crime  are  supposed  to  be  two 
foreigners  in  sailors’  dress,  who  were  seen  that  day  by  a number  of  people 
making  their  way  toward  Springfield.”  A reward  of  ^500  was  offered  by 
Governor  Strong.  The  two  foreigners  in  sailor  dress  were  arrested,  and  on 
the  testimony  of  a lad  of  thirteen,  imprisoned  and  condemned  to  the  gallows. 
The  same  paper  under  date  of  June  25,  1806,  has  the  following  : “ Execution 
of  Daly  and  Halligan  : ” — 

“On  Thursday  last,  pursuant  to  their  sentence,  Dominick  Daley  and 
’ Barber  Hist.  Collections,  p.  329. 


Rev.  P.  H.  GALLEN. 


Rev.  GEORGE  M.  FITZGERALD. 


Rev.  N.  R.  RAINVILLE. 


Rev.  THOS.  P.  LUCEY. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


141 


James  Halligan  were  executed  at  Northampton.  At  half-past  ten  o’clock 
they  were  conducted  to  the  meeting  house,  by  the  high  sheriflf  and  his  depu- 
ties, with  a guard,  composed  of  a company  of  artillery  and  a detachment  of 
the  militia.  An  appropriate  and  eloquent  discourse  was  delivered  to  a very 
crowded  auditory  by  Rev.  Mr.  Cheverus,  of  Boston,  from  i John  3:  15:  ‘Who- 
ever hateth  his  brother  is  a murderer,!’ 

“ After  the  sermon,  the  criminals  were  constantly  attended  by  Mr.  Chev- 
erus, with  whom,  during  the  greater  part  of  the  time,  they  appeared  to  be 
engaged  in  prayer. 

“At  three  o’clock  sentence  was  executed  by  Major-General  Mattoon, 
sheriff  of  the  county.  Notwithstanding  their  protestations  of  innocence,  in 
which  they  insisted  until  the  last,  it  is  believed  that  of  the  15,000  persons 
supposed  to  be  present  scarcely  one  had  a doubt  of  their  guilt.  Daley  and 
Halligan  were  natives  of  Ireland.  Daley  was  about  thirty-four  years  of  age, 
and  has  been  in  this  country  two  years ; he  has  left  a wife,  a mother  and 
brother  in  Boston. 

“ Halligan  was  about  twenty-seven  years  of  age;  and  we  believe  has  no 
connections  in  this  country,  in  which  he  has  resided  for  four  years.” 

Poor  Daley  and  Halligan  were  Catholics  and  had  begged  Father  Cheverus 
to  come  and  prepare  them  for  death.  In  the  face  of  the  fact,  “ that  of  the 
15,000  persons  supposed  to  be  present,  scarcely  one  had  a doubt  of  their 
guilt,”  it  is  interesting  to  mention  that  Father  Fitton,  who  labored  in 
Northampton  more  than  a quarter  of  a century  later,  learned,  as  “murder 
will  out,”  of  “a  certain  native-born,  who,  when  dying,  confessed  that  he 
was  the  murderer  of  the  mail-carrier,”  for  whose  death  the  two  young  Irish- 
men were  executed  at  Northampton.  “We  knew  in  boyhood  days,”  con- 
tinued Father  Fitton,  “and  in  our  childish  hearts  sympathized  with  the 
widowed  mother  of  one  of  these  young  men,  whom  we  often  saw  kneeling  at 
the  foot  of  the  cross  in  the  Cathedral  on  Franklin  street,  where  she  often 
went  to  pour  forth  the  sorrows  of  her  heart  and  seek  consolation  in  her 
declining  years.”  * 

So  strong  a feeling  obtained  against  Catholics  at  that  time  in  Northamp- 
ton, that  when  Father  Cheverus,  afterwards  first  Bishop  of  Boston  and  who 
died  the  Cardinal-Archbishop  of  Bordeaux,  came  to  attend  the  condemned 
men,  no  one  of  the  town  could  be  found  to  give  him  shelter.  The  public  inn 
refused  to  receive  him,  and  he  would  have  been  obliged  to  pass  the  night  in 
the  open  air,  had  not  a kindly  man  by  the  name  of  Clark  taken  him  to  his 
home  on  Hawley  street.  This  very  house  that  sheltered  him  became  after- 
wards the  home  of  the  first  resident  priest  in  Northampton. 

The  first  Mass  of  which  we  have  definite  knowledge  was  said  by  Father 
Fitton  in  the  home  of  John  Foley  at  “ Straw  Hollow”  some  time  near  1834. 
He  came  again  several  times  before  his  transfer  from  Hartford  to  Worcester. 
Even  from  Worcester  he  came,  and  in  July  26,  1840,  record  is  made  of  the 
formation  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Temperance  Confraternity  at  the  home  of 
John  Foley  in  Straw  Hollow. 


Sketches,  p.  322. 


142 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


As  early  as  1834/  Father  Fitton  secured  the  refusal  of  a pieee  of  laud 
whereon  ten  years  later,  Rev.  John  D.  Brady  built  the  church  of  St.  John  the 
Baptist.  The  land  was  intended  for  a church  and  burial  ground,  and  from 
the  records  of  the  old  Temperance  Society  we  learn  that  it  was  not  pur- 
chased or  paid  for  till  June  21,  1841,  when  it  had  “been  resolved  “That 
Father  Fitton  be  requested  to  take  the  matter  into  his  own  hands ; to  look 
out  and  purchase  a piece  of  land  for  said  object  when  and  where  he  may 
please.”  He  paid  for  the  land  $385.  There  were  150  Catholics  in  North- 
ampton and  Hadley. 

After  the  coming  in  1841  of  Father  Brady  to  Chicopee,  Northampton 
received  from  him  special  care.  He  began  to  work  for  the  new  church, 
which  was  built.  Father  Fitton  says,  in  18^4,  but  dedicated  by  Bishop  Fenwick 
at  Christmas  time  in  1845.  The  bishop  himself  preached  the  sermon. 

We  have  been  fortunate  enough  to  find  a document  prepared  by  Father 
Brady  which  reads  : 

A True  and  Faithful  Record  op  all  those  who  have  Paid  towards  the  Erec- 
tion OF  A Roman  Catholic  Church  in  Northampton,  Mass.,  to  be  Dedicated 
TO  THE  Patronage  of  St.  John  the  Baptist. 

February,  1844.  John  D.  Brady,  Pastor. 


Jeremiah  Dvv\'er $ 5.00 

Patrick  Donlea  5.00 

Rev.  J.  D.  Brady 52.00 

Edward  Conners 5.00 

John  Cahill 5.00 

Richard  Cahill 3.00 

Michael  Cahill 10,00 

Michael  Conlin 5.00 

Ann  Dower 5.00 

]\Iary  Cassidy 5 od 

James  Brown 2.00 

Thomas  O’Conner 5.00 

George  O’Conner 5.00 

James  Costin 10.00 

Michael  Colwell 3.00 

Michael  Smith 3.00 

Owen  Smith 3.00 

William  Crnite 5.00 

Casper  Esser 2.00 

John  P.  Austin 8.00 

Michael  Keifer 2.00 

John  Foley 25.00 

Patrick  Geany 5.00 

John  Franyer 2.00 

Patrick  Hickey 5 00 

Patrick  Ha5’es 25.00 

Charles  Hickey 1000 

Owen  Galleace 10.00 

Henry  Hickey 10  00 


Julia  Hines $ 2.00 

Ellen  Lingan i.oo 

John  Mountain 5.00 

Thomas  Monks 5.00 

James  Maher 5.00 

Richard  Maher 5.00 

Mrs.  Jas.  Maher 3.00 

Margaret  iMaher 3.00 

Thomas  Moran 2.00 

Jacob  Eandon i.oo 

Patrick  McGrath 5.00 

Miria  Mooney 5.00 

Patrick  Murphy 5.00 

James  Murphy 2.00 

Sarah  Gorman 2.00 

John  Rees  i.oo 

John  Noonan 5.00 

Peter  Princely 10.00 

Widow  Purcell 3.00 

William  Jones 5 00 

Laurence  Walsh 10.00 

Thomas  Walsh 10.00 

David  Flahavan 5 00 

William  Walsh 5.00 

John  O’Riely 5.00 

Patrick  Stokes 10.00 

Matthew  Spicer 5.00 

Edward  Ward 15.00 

William  R3'an 5.Q0 


’Fitton  Sketches,  p.  324. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


143 


Such  a record  to-day  gives  title  to  a kind  of  nobility  in  the  families 
whose  ancestors  are  mentioned  herein. 

After  the  death  of  Father  Brady  Northampton  knew  the  care  of  Fathers 
Strain  and  Blenkinsop,  until  Holyoke  was  made  a parish,  when  its  pastors, 
Rev.  Jeremiah  O’ Callaghan  and  Rev.  James  O’Sullivan,  came  in  turn  to  its 
Father  O’Sullivan,  in  1858,  purchased  the  new  cemetery. 

In  January,  1866,  Rev.  P.  V.  Moyce  was  named  the  first  resident  pastor. 
He  served  six  years,  and  in  that  time  built  a church  at  Easthampton,  one 
at  Haydenville  and  one  at  Amherst,  and  enlarged  the  church  at  Northamp- 
ton. He  was  a man  of  extraordinary  zeal  and  energy,  and  was  known  among 
his  brother  priests  as  the  possessor  of  unusual  scholarship. 

In  February,  1866,  Rev.  M.  E.  Barry  came  to  replace  him.  He  in  turn 
enlarged  and  beautified  the  old  church  on  King  street. 

Meanwhile  the  Catholic  body  in  Northampton  was  growing  rapidly,  and 
Father  Barry  recognized  the  need  of  a larger  church.  He  bought,  in  1873, 
of  the  Fitch  Bros.,  of  Hatfield,  the  splendid  site  opposite  Smith  College, 
whereon  then  stood  the  old  hostelry;  the  “Mansion  House.”  In  the  spring 
of  1881  this  was  torn  down,  and  the  foundations  of  the  new  church,  accord- 
ing to  the  plans  of  the  architect,  P.  W.  Ford,  of  Boston,  were  begun.  The 
masonry  was  done  by  Brown  & Bailey,  of  Northampton,  and  the  wood  work 
by  John  Beston,  Jr.,  of  Amherst.  On  Sunday,  August  14,  1881,  Bishop 
O'Reilly  laid  the  corner-stone  of  the  church  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Assumption, 
Rev.  Richard  Walsh,  of  Easthampton,  preached  the  sermon.  Matthew  Car- 
rol, who  had  been  the  most  generous  donor  towards  the  building  fund,  was 
presented  the  silver  trowel  used  by  the  bishop.  The  first  Mass  was  said  in 
the  basement  in  1884,  and  the  dedication  took  place  May  10,  1885.  Bishop 
O’Reilly  was  the  officiating  prelate,  and  Rev.  Dr.  McGlynn,  of  St.  Stephen’s 
Church,  New  York,  preached  the  dedicatory  sermon. 

The  building  is  of  brick  and  brown  stone,  and  is  1 50  feet  long  and  65 
feet  wide.  It  is  built  on  Gothic  lines,  stands  on  an  eminence,  is  beautifully 
finished,  and,  all  in  all,  is  one  of  the  noblest  temples  in  our  diocese.  “ You 
have  done  a grand  work,”  said  Bishop  O’Reilly  to  the  people  the  day  of  the 
dedication,  “and  done  it  in  a short  time.  My  heart  is  filled  with  joy  with 
you  in  dedicating  such  a beautiful  church.” 

Just  after  the  dedication  Father  Barry  bent  his  energies  anew,  this  time 
in  the  erection  of  a parochial  residence  close  by  the  church.  This  work  was 
almost  done  when  God  called  him,  April  17,  1889.  The  Northampton  Daily 
Herald  the  next  evening  said:  “In  the  death  of  Father  Barry,  the  valued, 
beloved  and  able  pastor  of  St.  Mary’s  Church  of  the  Assumption,  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  of  this  country  loses  one  of  its  finest  representatives  and 
ablest  leaders,  and  this  city  one  of  those  useful  and  honored  citizens  whom  no 
country  can  ever  afford  to  lose.” 

Father  Barry  was  born  in  Boston,  1844.  He  was  the  son  of  a contractor 
and  builder,  Michael  Barry  ; was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Cambridge 
and  New  York  city.  He  fitted  for  college  at  St.  Mary’s  Latin  School,  Boston. 
In  1863  he  was  graduated  from  St.  Charles’  College,  Ellicott  City,  Md.,  and 


144 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


then  entered  the  seminary  of  St.  Bonaventure  at  Buffalo,  N.  Y.  He  was  made 
a priest  June  12,  1869,  and  was  immediately  appointed  to  the  cathedral  at 
Springfield.  He  was  assigned  as  pastor  of  Northampton,  February  9,  1892, 
where  he  labored  till  his  death. 

Father  Barry  was  a man  of  literary  tastes,  a poet  and  an  orator.  “Espe- 
cially eloquent  is  he,”  said  the  press  of  his  city  telling  the  story  of  the  church’s 
dedication,'  “when  dealing  with  subjects  which  awaken  patriotic  fervor,  and 
his  address  on  the  soldiers  of  the  late  war,  at  the  city  hall  recently,  will  long 
be  remembered  for  its  touching  incidents  as  well  as  stirring  appeals.  Courteous, 
polished  and  retiring,  he  holds  the  respect  of  all.” 

His  loss  was  sorely  felt,  and  the  general  opinion  was  voiced  by  a sorrow- 
ing parishioner  who  said:  “Hardly  can  we  hope  to  find  his  equal  for  his 
place.’’ 

The  first  day  of  May  following  the  death  of  Father  Barry,  Rev.  John 
Kenny  was  given  his  place.  Father  Kenny,  like  Father  Barry,  enjoys  a 
reputation  for  learning.  He  is  not  eloqnent,  nor  has  he  that  enthusiastic 
temperament  and  power  of  picturesque  expression  which  made  his  predecessor 
so  unique  a man,  but  he  has  depth  and  exact  scholarship,  and  holds  a place  of 
high  respect  among  his  brethren  of  the  clergy. 

Father  Kenny  was  born  in  Ireland,  studied  at  St.  John’s  College,  in 
Waterford,  and  was  ordained  in  the  church  of  the  Holy  Name,  Chicopee,  in 
1875.  He  served  as  curate  at  Greenfield,  and  as  pastor  in  Indian  Orchard 
before  coming  to  this  city. 

The  curates  of  this  church  have  been:  Rev.  F.  J.  Lynch,  December, 
1866,  to  April,  1868;  Rev.  Charles  McManus,  June  15,  1869,  to  December, 
1869;  Rev.  Michael  Walsh,  December,  1869,  to  November,  1870;  Rev.  Richard 
Walsh,  November,  1870,  to  January,  1871  ; Rev.  Joseph  Coyne,  January,  1871, 
to  December,  1871;  Rev.  John  T.  Sheehan,  June,  1875,  to  January,  1880; 
Rev.  M.  J.  Carroll,  January,  1880,  to  February,  1887;  Rev.  W.  J.  Long,  Feb- 
rnary,  1887,  to  April,  1889;  Rev.  T.  P.  Lucey,  April,  1889. 

Father  Kenny  bought,  shortly  after  his  coming,  at  a cost  of  $22,500 
“Shady  Lawn,’’  a place  which  has  been  for  many  years  a beauty  spot  in 
Northampton.  It  was  built  as  an  academy  for  young  ladies.  He  expended 
while  fitting  it  up  for  parochial  schools  $10,000  more,  and  when  the  schools 
opened  in  September  150  children  came  to  its  shelter.  Now  there  are  300 
boys  and  girls  under  the  direction  of  eight  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph.  The  school 
has  all  the  grammar  and  high  school  grades,  and  enjoys  an  excellent  reputa 
tion.  The  grounds  surrounding  the  school  are  near  to  four  acres,  and  because 
of  the  noble  trees  that  make  the  cool  avenues  thereon,  the  j^lace  has  its  name, 
“Shady  Lawn.”  The  Sisters’  convent  occupies  one  corner  of  the  grounds. 
The  Catholics  all  over  Northampton  are  proud  of  their  church  and  school 
property,  and  have  every  just  reason. 

From  1865  there  have  been  6,650  baptisms,  1,578  marriages  and  66  con- 
versions 

In  1840  the  150  Catholic  people  in  Northampton  and  Hadley  were  of 
’ Hampshire  Daily  Herald,  May  ii,  1885. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


145 


Irish  stock.  In  the  ’6o’s  came  crowds  of  French  Canadians  to  Feeds,  Hat- 
field and  to  Northampton,  so  that  when  Father  Moyce  was  made  pastor,  fully 
one-fourth  of  the  people  were  Canadians.  There  were,  however,  about  twenty 
German  families  in  Hatfield,  then  a mission  of  Northampton. 

St.  Mary’s  parish  has  more  than  2,700  souls,  principally  Irish  and  their 
children,  but  with  increasing  bodies  of  Bohemians,  Poles,  Lithuanians  and 
Italians. 

The  parish  owns  the  old  and  the  new  parochial  residences,  the  parish 
school  and  convent,  two  houses  formerly  used  for  parochial  residences,  a cot- 
tage for  janitor  on  the  school  grounds,  and  one  in  the  cemetery;  a large 
stable  used  as  a livery  stable,  a cemetery  and  a small  house  in  Bay  street. 


SACRED  HEART, 

Northampton. 

N January  i,  1886,  the  French  Canadians  of  Northampton  made  count 
of  upwards  to  a thousand  souls,  and  Bishop  O’Reilly  formed  them 
into  a congregation  and  named  Rev.  N.  Rainville  their  first  resident 
pastor.  The  old  frame  church  on  King  street,  which  had  been  used 
by  the  English-speaking  Catholics  up  to  the  building  of  their  new  church 
was  put  at  the  service  of  the  Canadian  people  ; and  therein  Father  Rainville 
said  the  first  Mass  for  his  congpregation  on  the  third  day  of  that  same  January. 
Five  years  afterward  Father  Rainville  built  the  present  chapel  of  the  Sacred 
Heart.  It  is  intended,  when  the  congregation  can  see  its  way,  to  be  used  as 
a parochial  school  building. 

Beyond  the  building  of  the  chapel  Father  Rainville  has  purchased  an 
excellent  property  valued  at  ^22,000 ; and  so  energetically  has  he  labored 
that  now  there  is  less  than  ^8,000  debt  upon  it.  The  parish  has  a presbytery, 
a chapel  and  a convent  for  the  Sisters  who  teach  the  parish  school.  This 
community  has  four  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  from  the  mother-house  at  Cham- 
bery,  France;  Sister  Margaret  is  the  Superior.  Their  parish  school  opened 
in  1891  with  ninety -five  pupils  in  attendance.  The  average  now  (1899)  is  180. 

Father  Rainville  was  born  in  St.  Marie  de  Monnoir,  P.Q.,  and  was  there 
educated,  and  ordained  at  its  seminary  in  November,  1875.  In  July,  1883,  he 
came  to  this  diocese  and  began  his  labors  under  the  pastoral  direction  of 
Father  Dufresne  at  Holyoke.  After  two  years  of  labor  here  he  was  made  the 
first  resident  pastor  of  the  church  of  the  Sacred  Heart. 

The  French  people  of  Northampton  are  a respectable  body,  quiet  and 
orderly.  They  are  of  the  working  class ; many  of  them  are  skilled  in  the 
trades,  particularly  as  workers  in  wood.  This  neighborhood  has  known  them 
now  for  fifty  years.  The  first  who  came  worked  at  Hadley  and  at  Hatfield 
making  brooms.  A few  years  later  a small  body  of  them  came  here,  amongst 
whom  were  the  citizens  Basil  Herbert,  Michell  Rochefort,  Louis  Rochefort 
and  Leander  Trotier.  For  years  there  were  not  more  than  six  or  seven  fami- 
lies, and  even  as  late  as  1870  one  could  not  count  more  than  sixty  in  the  towns 
of  Northampton,  Hadley,  Hatfield  and  Amherst.  To  day  there  are  upwards 
of  2000  French-speaking  people  in  Northampton  alone. 

10 


146 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


_ NEW  PARISH  OF  BAY  STATE. 

(5  I HE  new  parish  of  Bay  State  erected  by  Bishop  Beaven,  in  Northamp- 
^ I ton,  July  of  the  present  year,  Rev.  Thomas  P.  Lucey  as  its  first  pastor, 
is  an  offshoot  of  St.  Mary's.  As  yet  it  controls  but  the  land  on  which 
the  pastor  hopes  to  erect  his  church,  and  which  is  had  for  ^5,600,  and  a small 
frame  house. 

The  contemplated  church,  after  plans  by  Messrs.  McGuinness,  Welsh 
and  Sullivan  of  Boston,  will  be  built  in  Gothic  lines  of  brick  with  stone 
trimmings.  It  will  seat  five  hundred.  Ground  for  this  new  church  was 
broken  in  September,  and  the  walls  are  now  in  course  of  construction. 

The  parish  has  eight  hundred  souls  within  its  lines  who  are  mainly  of 
Irish  birth  or  blood,  though  there  are  numbers  of  Germans,  Poles  and  Bohe- 
mians amongst  them. 


On  Sunday,  October  i,  (1899),  Father  Lucey  celebrated  the  first  Mass  in 
the  new  parish.  This  was  said  in  a public  school  building,  known  locally  as 
the  “ Paper  Mill  School.”  This  Mass  was  at  eight  o’clock ; another  was  said 
at  ten,  and  at  both  services  the  building  was  filled  to  overflowing. 

Rev.  Thomas  P.  Lucey  was  born  at  Ellenboro,  N.  Y.,  studied  at  Holyoke 
and  Springfield  and  completed  his  classics  at  St.  Michael’s,  Toronto.  He 
studied  theology  at  Montreal  and  was  ordained  to  the  priesthood  February 
23,  1886,  by  Archbishop  Lynch,  at  Toronto,  Canada. 


ST.  PATRICK’S  CHURCH, 

South  Hadley  Falls. 

’OUTH  HADLEY  FALLS,  or  Patuxet,  “The  Water  Falls,”  as  the 
Indians  called  it,  knew  its  first  Mass  on  Christmas  day,  1868.  Rev. 
P.  J.  Harkins,  pastor  of  St.  Jerome’s,  Holyoke,  had  built  here  for 
the  eighteen  Catholic  families  a frame  church,  in  which  that  day 
though  yet  unfinished,  he  was  able  to  say  Mass  for  the  people.  In  the  next 
3'ear  the  church  was  dedicated  by  Right  Rev.  John  J.  Williams,  Bishop  of 
Boston.  At  that  time  no  bridge  spanned  the  river ; people  crossed  by  ferry 
or  in  small  row  boats,  and  in  time  of  “ flood”  could  not  cross  at  all,  hence 
the  need  of  a church,  though  the  number  attending  was  so  small.  In  1877 
the  parish  record  begins,  and  we  find  as  subscribers  to  the  record  of  eight  bap- 
tisms the  names  of  Revs.  P.  J.  Harkins,  Richard  Walsh,  James  A.  O’Reilly 
and  L.  J.  Dervin,  all  of  whom  were  pastors  and  assistants  at  St.  Jerome’s, 
Holyoke.  In  July,  1878,  Rev.  David  F.  McGrath  was  made  the  first  resident, 
pastor.  He  remained  till  July  29,  1880.  His  successor  was  L.  J.  Dervine 
whose  name  appears  for  the  first  time  August  9,  1880,  and  for  the  last  time 
December  10,  1883.  Rev.  Eugene  Toher,  the  present  pastor,  succeeded 
Father  Dervin,  Januaiy  13,  1884.  The  parish  had  but  one  priest  until  the 
little  settlement  of  French  Canadians  was  founded  on  the  hills  called  the 
“ Plains,”  and  now  known  as  “ Fairview.”  Though  but  a few  families,  they 
asked  for  especial  attendance,  and  in  order  to  accommodate  them  and  give 
them  Mass  each  Sunday,  Rev.  H.  J.  Wren  was  sent  by  the  bishop  to  Father 
Toher  as  assistant  in  January,  1891.  Under  the  direction  of  the  pastor. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


147 


Father  Wren  soon  built  a little  church  on  land  given  to  the  parish  by  the 
late  Royal  Britton.  Previous  to  this  he  said  Mass  for  the  people  in  a small, 
untidy  hall,  which  was  used  the  rest  of  the  week  for  evening  dances.  Father 
Wren  remained  until  November,  1892,  and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Anthony 
A.  Dwyer.  He  too  was  made  a pastor  in  1893,  stead  came  Rev. 

L.  J.  Achim.  Father  Achim  also  was  made  pastor  soon  after,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded here  by  Rev.  J.  P.  Hackett,  who  still  serves. 

In  the  fall  of  1892  the  church  erected  by  Father  Harkins  was  removed 
from  its  original  site  to  its  present  location.  After  the  building  of  a bridge 
across  the  river  the  people  naturally  gathered  near  it,  and  thus  the  church 
was  left  in  a position  very  inconvenient  for  those  who  wished  to  attend. 
Father  Toher  felt  obliged,  therefore,  to  bring  the  church  again  to  their  doors, 
and  this  was  done  for  Christmas,  1892.  Since  then  many  repairs  have  been 
made  on  the  church  and  about  the  premises,  so  that  now  St.  Patrick’s  church 
property  is  considered  a very  great  credit  to  the  hard-working  people  of  this 
little  parish.  The  parishioners  number  1 100,  and  are  principally  of  the  Irish 
race,  though  a good  many  French,  some  Poles  and  a few  Germans  are  found 
here  with  them. 

The  records  show  195  marriages,  1133  baptisms  and  a few  conversions. 
The  pastor,  Father  Toher,  was  born  in  County  Cavan,  Ireland,  June  24th, 
1851,  was  educated  in  All  Hallows,  and  was  ordained  in  June,  1877.  He 
served  as  curate  from  September,  1877,  to  May,  1883,  at  St.  Paul’s,  Worcester  ; 
from  May,  1883,  to  January,  1884,  at  Westfield,  whence  he  was  called  to  the 
pastorate  of  South  Hadley. 

Father  Toher  is  much  beloved  by  his  people,  and  deservingly  so.  He 
is  quiet  and  kindly,  of  good  mind  and  most  agreeable  presence.  His  brethren 
in  the  priesthood  hold  him  in  high  respect. 

CHURCH  OF  ALL  SAINTS, 

WARE. 

WARE  was  incorporated  in  1761,  but  remained  unsettled  for  years 
after  the  adjoining  towns  were  enjoying  community  life.  “So 
hard  and  rough  was  the  soil,”  says  Barber,  “that  it  was  considered 
unfit  for  cultivation.”  The  general  court  gave  this  land,  he  goes  on  to  say, 
to  a body  of  soldiers  who  had  done  service  in  the  Indian  Wars,  and  so  little 
value  was  placed  upon  it  by  them  that  they  sold  it  to  John  Reed,  Esq.,  of 
Boston,  for  “two  coppers  per  acre.”  J.  G.  Holland,  in  his  “History  of 
Western  Massachusetts,”  says  “that  10,000  acres  of  laud,  covering  the  whole 
of  the  western  portion  of  the  present  town  of  Ware,  were  part  of  the  ‘ equiva- 
lent’ lands  conveyed  to  John  Reed  by  Connecticut,  soon  after  1713,  as  Trum- 
bull says,  ‘for  less  than  one  farthing  an  acre.’  ” The  town  has  its  name 
from  the  “Weirs,”  or  “Wears,”  constructed  in  the  Ware  river  (the  Nena- 
meseck  as  the  Indians  called  it),  for  the  taking  of  salmon.  As  far  as  sure 
records  go,  the  town  knew  Catholic  services  some  time  during  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Boston  and  Albany  road  from  Worcester,  west ; for  Father  Fitton, 
in  his  “ Sketches,”  says  that  “stations  were  held  then  wherever  laborers  and 
their  families  had  taken  up  their  residence  for  the  time  being,”  and  “ where- 


148 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


ever  a few  Catholics  were  employed  in  the  mills  as  at  Ware,  Barre,  etc.” 
Inasmuch  as  the  road  was  opened  for  travel,  between  Worcester  and  Spring- 
field,  on  the  first  day  of  October,  1839,  Ware,  before  this  date  was  one  of 
Father  Fitton’s  “stations.” 

The  pastor  writes  of  a Mass  said  “ in  the  house  of  John  Bouden  on  South 
street,  by  Father  William  Blenkinsop  in  1845.”  This  is  evidently  wrong, 
for  Father  Blenkinsop  was  not  pastor  of  Chicopee  till  October,  1850. 

The  Mass  said  at  that  time  must  have  had  as  celebrant  Rev.  John  D. 
Brady,  or  his  assistant.  Rev.  Bernard  O’ Cavanaugh,  who  were  the  only  priests 
then  at  service  in  our  four  western  counties. 

It  is  certain,  however,  that  Father  Blenkinsop  gave  congregational  form 
to  the  people  of  the  town,  and  attended  them,  in  the  beginning  once  a month, 
and  later  on,  every  second  Sunday,  until  Rev.  Patrick  Healey,  in  April,  i860, 
became  their  first  resident  pastor.  In  Father  Blenkinsop’ s time  land  was 
purchased  for  a cemeter}%  a portion  of  which  was  put  aside  for  church  pur- 
poses, and  hereon  Father  Blenkinsop  afterwards  built  a frame  church  which 
he  called  St.  William’s,  and  which  seated  three  hundred  people.  Father 
Healey  during  his  pastorate  built  a large  addition  to  this  church.  He  pur- 
chased and  added  to  the  cemetery  some  land  adjoining,  and  on  North  street, 
central  of  the  town,  two  contiguous  plats  more  of  land  whereon  to-day  stands 
All  Saint’s  church. 

Four  years  later  upon  his  appointment  as  pastor  in  Chicopee,  Father 
Moran  came  in  his  stead. 

Father  ^loran  served  the  altar  twenty-three  years.  He  had  grown  so 
enfeebled  as  to  render  his  resignation  necessary  in  January,  1887,  and  Rev. 
James  Boyle,  then  pastor  at  Grafton,  came  to  take  his  place  in  February  fol- 
lowing. Father  Moran  died  soon  after. 

Father  William  Moran  was  a man  of  marked  individuality.  He  was  tall 
and  strong,  of  a sinewy,  athletic  figure,  and  with  thews  and  muscles  like 
whip-cords.  He  had  all  the  traditional  Irish  love  for  battle,  and  rejoiced 
like  the  war-horse  of  the  Scriptures  to  sniff  it  near  or  from  afar.  Many  a 
kindly  laugh  his  brother  priests  have  had  at  the  enthusiastic  recital  from  the 
old  man’s  own  lips  of  stories  of  fight  in  the  days  of  bigotry,  either  on  his  own 
part  with  the  “ Yankees,”  or  on  the  part  of  some  much  admired  parishioner. 

He  has  been  known  to  stop  in  the  midst  of  sacred  ceremony  and  listen, 
plainly  interested,  to  the  sounds  of  strife  that  came  to  him  through  the 
opened  windows  of  his  church.  Yet  nobody  was  ever  scandalized  at  this 
quality  in  the  good  old  man.  It  was  as  natural  for  him,  and  was  enjoyed 
with  as  innocent  a heart,  as  is  a song  of  love  or  a tale  of  the  chase  by  other  men. 

In  his  early  priesthood  he  was  a missionary  to  the  Indians  in  Maine,  and 
it  is  related  that  once,  the  swiftest  runners  of  the  tribe  came  to  him  for  a 
sick  call  thirty  miles  away.  The  fleet-footed  Indians’  fame  was  enough  to 
awaken  all  the  warrior  spirit  in  Father  Moran’s  breast.  “Go,  I’ll  be  there 
before  you,”  said  Father  Moran,  and  hurriedly  getting  his  stole,  oil  stocks 
and  pyx,  dashed  away  after  the  flying  Indians.  Up  the  mountain  side  and 
down,  through  the  rivers  and  the  forests,  the  men  tore  along,  but  Father 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


149 


Moran  entered  the  wigwam,  and  had  prepared  for  death  the  dying  Indian 
before  the  runners  came  np  to  tell  their  admiring  tribesmen  of  the  wonderful 
powers  of  the  young  “ Blackrobe.”  His  wish  was  law  thereafter. 

In  1864  Father  Moran  built  a spire  on  St.  William’s  church,  and  the  same 
year  put  into  the  church  a pipe  organ. 

The  curates  of  this  parish  were  Revs.  Denis  C.  Moran,  nephew  of  Father 
William,  from  April  to  September,  1866;  William  H.  Hart,  from  February 
to  December,  1866;  John  F.  Griffin,  from  January  to  February,  1887;  An- 
thony A.  Dwyer,  for  a year  or  mote,  and  John  P.  Deary,  who  since  May,  1892, 
has  been  on  duty. 

From  i860  to  January,  1899,  there  have  been  3,806  baptisms,  998  mar- 
riages, and  since  1888,  10  conversions  from  Protestantism. 

Father  Blenkinsop  began  his  labors  here  with  thirty  people,  all  of  Irish 
birth  or  lineage.  Now  (1899)  there  are  two  thousand  souls,  mainly  of  Irish 
blood,  amongst  whom,  however,  there  are  Germans,  Americans,  Italians, 
Scotch  and  Poles.  The  Poles  numbered  seven  in  1887,  but  to-day  count  up 
five  hundred,  and  still  others  are  coming. 

Father  Boyle  built,  shortly  after  his  coming,  the  splendid  church  of  All 
Saints.  It  is  of  brick  with  brown  stone  trimmings,  and  rests  on  granite 
foundations.  It  is  in  Gothic  style,  and  is  the  creation  of  architect  P.  W.  Ford, 
of  Boston.  Its  corner-stone  was  laid  by  Right  Rev.  Bishop  O’Reilly  in 
August,  1888,  and  the  completed  church  was  dedicated  November  4,  1894, 
by  Right  Rev.  Thomas  D.  Beaven.  Rev.  F'ather  Morrill,  who  had  been  an 
Episcopal  minister,  preached  the  dedicatory  sermon.  This  magnificent 
church,  which  may  be  counted  in  with  the  first  ten  of  our  diocese,  cost 
$80,000,  and  will  seat  twelve  hundred  people.  Besides  the  church  the  parish 
owns  a parochial  residence  near  by,  and  two  tenement  houses,  one  on  Bank 
street,  the  other,  which  was  the  presbytery  in  the  time  of  Father  Healy  and 
Father  Moran,  on  North  street.  In  addition  to  these  the  parish  controls  the 
Owens  estate  on  Bank  street,  the  Dawton  and  Sanford  estates  on  North 
street,  St.  William’s  cemetery,  and  a plot  of  eight  acres  intended  for  cemetery 
purposes  on  the  Palmer  road. 

In  1889  the  congregation  began  worshipping  in  the  basement  of  the  new 
church,  and  the  old  church,  which  was  standing  useless,  was  razed  to  the 
ground.  “The  people  of  All  Saints  are  prosperous,”  writes  Father  Boyle, 
“and  are  respected;  they  have  power  in  the  democratic  party.”  Rev.  James 
Boyle,  the  pastor,  was  born  at  Birkenhead,  Eng.;  was  educated  at  St.  Therese, 
in  Canada,  studied  theology  in  the  Grand  Seminary  at  Montreal,  and  was 
there  ordained  in  1875.  He  was  a curate  at  Florence,  Easthampton  and  the 
Sacred  Heart  Church  in  Springfield,  and  pastor  at  Grafton,  whence  he  came 
to  Ware. 

Father  Boyle,  like  Father  Edward  F.  Martin,  saw  service  in  the  Civil  War. 
He  earned  the  grade  of  lieutenant  in  a New  York  regiment,  and  bears  on  his 
body  even  now  the  scars  of  honorable  battle.  General  O’Beirne,  of  New  York, 
who  was  his  colonel  commanding,  and  who,  frightfully  wounded  with  a bullet 
through  his  lungs,  was  taken  from  the  field  by  the  young  officer,  all  the  while 


150 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


in  a storm  of  shot  and  flame,  has  said  in  the  hearing  of  the  writer,  “Lieut. 
Boyle  was  the  coolest  man  I have  ever  seen  under  Are.”  His  soldierly  quali- 
ties have  been  of  service  to  him  in  the  conquest  of  souls. 

OUR  LADY  OF  MT.  CARMEL, 

Ware. 

ULY  1 6,  1871,  the  French  Canadian  people  of  Ware  came  at  the  call 
of  Father  Gagnier  to  assist  at  Mass  in  “ Music  Hall.”  That  day  the 
new  parish  was  formed  under  the  patronage  of  Our  Lady  of  Mount 
Carmel.  From  July  12,  1871,  to  February  29,  1873,  the  people  knew 
the  spiritual  care  of  this  good  priest.  He  let  the  contract  for  the  building  of 
a brick  church  on  March  9,  1872.  It  was  to  cost  $7,300,  and  on  May  28th  of 
the  same  year,  the  corner-stone  was  laid  by  Father  Gagnier  himself,  who  also 
preached  the  sermon.  He  says  that  he  was  the  only  priest  present  at  the 
ceremony.  He  was  hard  working  and  zealous  while  he  cared  for  the  people. 
His  successor.  Rev.  Charles  Boucher,  was  also  zealous,  and  given  particularly 
to  the  glory  of  church  ceremony,  and  to  the  care  of  vestments,  holy  vessels, 
linens,  and  things  of  the  altar.  He  served  the  priest  for  eight  years  there- 
after, and  on  May  i,  1880,  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  John  T.  Sheehan,  the  pre- 
sent pastor.  The  curates  laboring  in  this  parish  were  Revs.  E.  Pelletier,  two 
years  and  four  months  ; J.  A.  Charland,  one  year,  eight  months  ; J.  Charle- 
bois,  eight  months  ; C.  Beaudouin,  one  year,  two  months  ; A.  L’Heureux,  two 
years  ten  months;  L.  Geoffrey,  two  years;  Emile  St.  Onge,  one  year,  two 
months;  J.  Mehan,  from  January  4,  1894,  and  still  in  service.  When 
Father  Gagnier  came  there  were  six  hundred  and  ninety-seven  souls,  now 
there  are  beyond  twenty-three  hundred  souls.  The  parish  records  show 
to  January,  1898,  fourteen  hundred  and  thirty-six  baptisms,  four  hundred  and 
seventeen  marriages,  and,  in  the  last  decade,  three  conversions  from  Protes- 
tantism. 

This  parish  is  now  in  excellent  condition.  Since  the  coming  of  Father 
Sheehan,  the  church  has  been  enlarged  and  renovated  inside  and  out.  A 
parish  school  has  been  built,  and  a convent  for  the  teaching  sisters.  A pres- 
bytery also  has  been  erected  near  the  school.  This  building  stands  on  a 
magnificent  plot  of  ground  embracing  nearly  ten  acres.  The  old  parochial 
residence,  with  barn  adjoining,  two  tenement  houses  and  a stable,  a cemetery 
of  sixteen  acres  of  land,  with  a late  addition  of  fourteen  acres  more  nearby, 
make  up  the  parish  property.  The  parochial  school  had  two  hundred  chil- 
dren under  the  care  of  the  teaching  Sisters  of  St.  Ann  when  opened.  Now 
there  are  three  hundred  and  fifty  children  in  the  nine  grades  which  make 
the  school  curriculum. 

The  people  are  thrifty  and  industrious ; they  have  had  fair  measure  of 
success  in  public  life,  and,  in  proportion  to  their  numbers,  more  than  a fair 
representation.  So  strong  has  been  their  political  power  for  the  last  few 
3’ears,  that  no  public  measure  which  may  meet  with  their  disapprobation  can 
hope  to  sncceed.  The  parish  history,  however,  has  known  some  unhappy 
years.  During  the  time  of  Father  Boucher,  a spirit  of  insubordination  and 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


151 


criticism  arose,  which  crippled  for  several  years  the  right  advance  of  the 
parish  interests.  This  feeling  was  intensified  at  the  coming  of  Father  Shee- 
han. He  was  not  of  the  same  race  as  his  parishioners,  but  he  knew  their 
tongue  as  well  as  those  who  were  to  the  manor  born.  A better  or  more  capa- 
ble priest  could  not  be  found  in  our  diocese.  A racial  spirit  seemed  for  a time 
to  threaten  the  destruction  of  the  religious  life ; and  under  plea  of  personal 
ownership  of  church  and  parish  property,  the  malcontents  tried  to  force  the 
Bishop  to  change  the  rector.  Many  scandalous  acts  publicly  done  by  those 
in  bad  faith  brought  pain  to  the  heart  of  the  Bishop  and  shame  to  the  good 
people  of  the  parish. 

The  real  motive  of  all  the  rebellion  was  in  the  desire  of  these  insincere 
hearts  to  control  the  parish  themselves,  and  to  make  the  priest  at  all  times 
slavishly  do  their  behests.  The  war  continued  for  nearly  four  years.  Two- 
thirds  of  the  people  absented  themselves  from  Mass  on  Sundays,  and  as  a 
boycott  measure  refused  all  financial  aid  to  the  rector.  Father  Sheehan,  how- 
ever, showed  admirable  coolness  and  back  bone  in  every  hour  of  the  trouble. 
The  people,  little  by  little,  came  to  their  senses,  so  that  seven  years  ago  the 
majority  were  again  in  their  places  about  the  altar,  speaking  sorrow  for  their 
misdeeds  and  asking  pardon  from  the  Bishop  and  from  their  pastor.  Now 
there  is  a spirit  of  docility  amongst  the  people,  and  the  traditional  virtues  of 
the  Canadian  Catholics  again  prevail. 

Father  Sheehan  was  born  in  Worcester,  was  educated  at  Holy  Cro.ss 
and  at  Troy  Seminary,  where  he  was  ordained  to  the  priesthood  in  June,  1875. 
He  is  a man  of  unusual  mental  parts,  is  a master  of  several  languages,  and  is 
naturally  gentle  and  peace-loving.  He  has,  nevertheless,  proved  himself 
capable  of  hot  and  tireless  battle  when  his  own  rights  are  assailed,  or  the 
obedience  due  his  Bishop  denied. 


WORCESTER  COUNTY, 


ST.  DENIS’  CHURCH, 

Ashburnham. 

'■f^^ECORDED  tradition  has  it  that  Father  Matthew  Gibson,  coming  from 
I Fitchburg,  said  the  first  Mass  in  Ashburnham  some  time  in  the  year 

JLy  V ^ 1853.  It  was  said  in  the  home  of  John  Nash  on  Water  street. 

This  is  certainly  not  the  first  Mass,  for  an  old  record  at  St.John’s 
church,  Worcester,  written  in  1846,  speaks  of  Ashburnham  as  then  a station 
attended  from  Worcester,  and  containing  a Catholic  population  of  “400 
Railroad  Men.”  With  the  moving  of  the  labor,  went  the  “400,”  and  after 
their  going,  we  seldom  hear  of  the  priest,  and  we  know  the  people  had  little 
care,  till  1864,  when  Father  Bannon  became  pastor  of  Otter  River,  and  Ash- 
burnham was  given  to  his  charge.  In  1822,  the  Methodists  built  a church, 
which  Father  Patrick  McManus,  who  in  1871  was  made  pastor  of  Otter  River, 


152 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


purchased  from  them,  and  blessed  for  Catholic  service  under  the  patronage 
of  St.  Denis. 

In  July,  1871,  Rev.  Denis  Moran  was  made  the  first  pastor ’’of  Winchen- 
don,  and  Ashburnham  became  a mission  of  the  new  parish.  Father  Moran 
remodeled  and  made  the  old  church  respectable,  and  so  left  it  in  the  care  of 
his  successor  in  the  pastorate  of  Winchendon,  February,  1880,  the  Rev.  John 
Conway.  The  old  church  yet  serves  the  people.  From  the  time  of  Father 
Conway’s  appointment  till  the  town  came  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Rev.  John 
D.  Tarpey,  pastor  of  West  Fitchburg  in  1886,  the  people  had  Mass  every 
Sunday. 

In  1893,  Rev.  John  D.  Tarpey  built  the  mission  church  in  South  Ash- 
burnham; then  for  two  years  the  town  was  given  to  the  care  of  Father  Alfred 
Langevin,  and  so  remained  till  Bishop  Beaven  made  it  an  independent  parish 
under  the  charge  of  Rev.  Dr.  Moyes,  in  1895. 

When  the  church  was  blessed  in  1871,  there  were  seventy-five  families, 
Irish  and  French.  The  count  is  about  the  same  to-day.  Business  depression 
has  forced  the  people  to  other  places  in  search  of  work,  and  the  promise  of 
earlier  days  for  a considerable  Catholic  population  is  not  having  fulfillment. 
The  baptisms  averaged  about  ten  each  year  and  the  marriages  three.  There 
is  reeord  of  one  convert  from  Protestantism  since  1895. 

The  Catholic  people,  though  few  in  number,  are  of  excellent  repute  iu 
the  community.  Some  few  are  in  business,  they  stand  well  socially,  while 
in  the  political  life  of  the  town  their  influence  is  very  considerable. 

For  nearly  two  years  the  parish  has  been  in  the  care  of  Rev.  Charles 
McManus,  whom  the  bishop  was  kind  enough  to  send  thereto,  while  the  rec- 
tor, Rev.  Dr.  Moyes,  was  away  in  study.  Dr.  Moyes  is  a scholarly  man  of 
unusual  parts.  He  is  an  elder  brother  of  Right  Rev.  Mgr.  Moyes,  Canon 
theologian  of  the  Chapter  of  Westminster,  under  Cardinal  Vaughan,  and  edi- 
tor of  the  Dublin  Review.  Rev.  David  Moyes,  pastor  of  Ashburnham,  is 
himself  a Doctor  of  Canon  Daw,  who  won  his  degree  with  high  credit  in 
public  examination  at  the  University  of  the  Sapienza  in  Rome,  inT890.  At 
the  present  time  he  is  engaged  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  as  advocate  in  eccle- 
siastical cases  before  the  papal  legation,  under  headship  of  his  excellency. 
Archbishop  Martinelli. 

CHURCH  OF  ST.  C.\THERINE, 

Athol. 

(^>^THOL  on  Miller’s  River,  was  settled  about  1735.  The  original  settlers 
fca  consisting  of  five  families,  were  from  Hadley.  It  became  a town  in 
1762.  Its  great  man  was  John  Murray,  an  Irishman.  Whether 
there  were  any  Catholic  towns-people,  before  1847,  cannot  be 
ascertained ; but  in  that  year,  James  Sullivan  and  Daniel  Harrington  with 
other  Catholic  Irishmen,  who  labored  in  the  building  of  the  Fitchburg  rail- 
road, came  to  Athol,  and  with  their  advent  begins  the  certain  history  of  the 
church. 

It  is  said  in  Athol  that  Father  Fitton  had  visited  and  served  the  Catho- 


Rev.  J.  H.  GAVIN. 


Rev.  JOHN  CONWAY. 


Rev.  E.  F.  MARTIN 


Rev.  M.  J.  CO^  NE. 


Rev.  JOHN  T.  SHEEHAN. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


153 


lie  people,  while  he  was  pastor  at  Worcester.  This  was  in  or  before  1843. 
We  know  definitely  that  some  priest  (probably  Father  Jeremiah  O’  Callaghan 
or  Father  J.  B.  Daly,  both  of  whom  served  the  Vermont  missions)  said  Mass 
in  the  town  in  1847.  It  was  said  in  the  poor  “shanty,”  built  for  the  tem- 
porary home  of  the  railroad  laborers.  It  is  likely  too  that  Father  Gibson 
said  Mass  in  1846;  for  he  puts  down  the  fact  on  the  records  at  St.John’s,  that 
Athol  in  that  year  had  “ 200  Catholics, — railroad  men.” 

After  1850,  Father  Gibson  who  was  pastor  of  Worcester,  with  the  mission 
of  Fitchburg  and  surrounding  towns,  came  to  the  people  of  Athol  at  regular 
intervals  and  said  Mass  in  the  house  of  Patrick  Doyle  on  the  Petersham  road, 
or  in  that  of  Patrick  Sullivan. 

Some  time  between  1852  and  1854  Jonathan  Wheeler  sold  Father  Gibson 
an  old  Baptist  church.  The  priest  was  unable  or  unwilling  to  meet  his  obli- 
gations, and  the  church  in  a little  while  reverted  to  the  original  owners. 

Some  one,  very  likely  Father  Turpin,  then  of  Fitchburg,  bought  it  again 
in  1856,  and  it  served  the  Catholic  people  of  Athol  till  1884,  at  which  time 
the  present  basement  of  the  contemplated  church  of  St.  Catherine,  was  built 
by  Father  Edward  Martin,  who  two  years  before  had  become  the  first  resi- 
dent pastor  of  Athol.  He  put  it  in  condition  for  the  decent  and  becoming 
worship  of  the  Lord.  From  1856  to  1864,  Father  Turpin  attended  to  the 
Catholic  people  of  Athol ; then  the  charge  was  given  to  Rev.  Thomas  H.  Ban- 
non,  pastor  of  Otter  River.  He  said  Mass  each  month,  in  Athol,  as  did  his 
successor  in  the  pastorate  of  Otter  River,  till  the  coming  of  Rev.  Edward  Mar- 
tin, March  lOth,  1882. 

Father  Martin  made  his  first  home  in  an  old  farm  house  on  Allen  street. 
In  1883  he  bought  the  Drury  grove,  cut  off  its  timber,  and  sold  it  for  a sum 
sufficient  to  pay  in  full  for  the  four  acres  on  which  it  had  grown.  In  the  next 
year  he  built,  and  becomingly  furnished  at  a cost  of  ;$4,ooo,  the  fine  basement 
in  which  the  people  worship.  After  a short  respite  he  began  the  building  of 
the  parish  house,  had  it  completed,  and  was  living  therein  October,  1885. 
Exclusive  of  grading  the  grounds,  and  interior  furnishings,  the  house  cost 
,^4,000.  A very  conservative  estimate  of  the  parish  property  which  comprises 
land,  church  basement,  parish  house  and  cemetery  of  four  acres  would  place 
it  at  $12,000.  It  is  free  of  debt,  and  in  excellent  condition.  When  the  judg- 
ment of  the  pastor  warrants,  the  people  will  begin  the  superstructure  of  the 
contemplated  St.  Catherine’s  church,  plans  for  which  by  Architect  P.  W. 
Ford,  of  Boston,  showing  a beautiful  temple  of  the  Gothic  order,  are  already 
in  the  hands  of  the  pastor.  A neat  sum  already  gathered  is  earning  interest 
to  that  end.  Father  Martin  has  in  his  spiritual  care  the  towns  of  North  Dana 
and  Orange.  North  Dana  has  eight  to  ten  Catholic  families,  while  Orange, 
where  Mass  is  said  every  Sunday  in  the  Town  Hall,  has  fifty  more.  Orange 
was  a mission  of  Otter  river  from  1864  to  1868,  at  which  time  it  was  given  to 
the  care  of  Rev.  Henry  L.  Robinson,  just  then  made  pastor  of  Greenfield.  It 
knew  his  care  or  that  of  his  successor  at  Greenfield,  Rev.  Patrick  McManus, 
till  the  fall  of  1878,  when  it  was  attached  to  the  new  parish  of  Turner’s  Falls. 
When  Father  Martin  was  made  pastor  of  Athol  it  came  to  him,  and  has  been 


154 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


part  of  his  parish  since.  The  whole  parish  has  about  nine  hundred  souls. 
The  original  Catholics  were  wholly  Irish,  or  the  children  of  the  Irish  ; now 
there  are  some  French-Canadians  and  a sprinkling  of  Lithuanians.  They 
have  good  reputation  with  their  neighbors  as  a body.  Unfortunately  they 
are  said  to  be  broken  up  too  much  for  their  own  immediate  good  into  little 
cliques,  whereby  their  strength  is  frittered  away,  so  that  socially  they  have  not 
made  the  material  advance  their  condition  could  give  hope  for,  while  polit- 
ically, for  a like  reason,  they  appear  devoid  of  almost  any  influence.  The 
men  in  business  life  could  be  counted  on  the  fingers  of  one  hand. 

Since  the  formation  of  the  parish  in  1882,  to  July,  1898,  there  were  747 
baptisms  in  Athol,  and  177  marriages  during  the  same  time.  There  were 
twelve  converts  from  Protestantism,  whose  character  is  shown  in  their  pastor’s 
terms,  “God-fearing  men  and  women.”  Father  Edward  Martin,  the  pastor 
was  born  in  the  missionary  days,  January  28,  1844,  and  just  close  to  the  place 
of  his  own  labors  in  Barre.  He  went  with  his  parents  to  Worcester,  where 
he  studied  in  her  schools  till  1862.  Then  the  tocsin  stirred  the  Celtic  blood 
within  him,  and  his  life  till  1865  was  amid  the  battles,  marches  and  voyages 
of  the  Civil  War.  He  served  as  soldier  and  sailor,  and  to-day  shows  the  severe 
and  useful  training  of  both  branches  of  our  country’s  armed  service,  in  the 
tall,  strong  and  upright  figure,  in  the  short  sharp  sentences,  the  hearty  ener- 
getic ways,  and  in  the  force  of  command  whereby  he  has  always  been  able  to 
deal  successfully  with  men,  and  for  their  own  good.  After  the  war  he  deter- 
mined to  become  a priest  if  God  so  willed.  He  studied  from  1870  to  1873  at 
St.  Charles’  college,  Maryland.  In  1873  began  the  study  of  Philosophy 
and  Theology  at  St.  Joseph’s  seminary,  Troy,  N.  Y.,  where  he  was  ordained 
a priest  December  22,  1877.  He  was  assistant  at  Lee  from  January,  1878, 
to  November,  1879.  He  was  at  Winchendon  till  February,  1880;  assisting 
Father  Denis  Moran,  with  whom  he  went  to  Adams,  and  there  served  till  his 
appointment  as  pastor  at  Athol. 

ST.  PAUL’S  CHURCH, 

Blackstone. 

WITH  the  opening  of  the  Providence  railroad  a wonderful  impetus 
was  given  to  manufacturing  interests  all  along  its  line,  and  in 
answer  to  the  call  for  “help,”  Irish  people  began  to  erowd  the 
valley  of  the  Blaekstone.  The  mill  owners  soon  found  in  them  proper  material 
for  good  operatives.  They  were  bright  and  trustworthy,  honest,  and  so  poor 
that  they  could  ill  afford  time  for  “vacations”  and  “visits,”  as  was  custom- 
ary with  the  native  workers,  hence  the  spindles  during  mill  hours  were  never 
idle  and  the  shuttle  was  always  hashing  back  and  forth  in  the  laboring  looms. 

The  priest  came  to  them  from  Worcester  and  had  “ Stations”  amongst 
them  which  he  regularly  visited  at  Uxbridge,  Blackstone,  Waterford  and 
Woonsocket,  both  before  the  building  of  the  road  and  afterwards. 

Blackstone  was  then  an  important  plaee,  and  here  as  early  as  1834  Mass 
was  said  by  Rev.  James  Fitton  in  the  home  of  Edward  McCabe.  There  were 
twenty  persons  present.  Father  Fitton  held  services  but  a few  times  at  Black- 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


155 


stone,  for  at  the  establishment  of  a mission  at  Woonsocket,  R.  L,  that  same 
year,  the  Catholics  went  thither,  and  when  later  on  a church  was  contem- 
plated, Blackstone  people  gave  it  hearty  support,  moral  and  monetary.  The 
Woonsocket  church  was  completed  and  dedicated  in  1843. 

It  was  of  wood  and  cost  $2,000.  Edward  McCabe,  of  Blackstone,  in 
whose  house  the  first  Mass  was  said,  and  Edward  Carroll,  who  was  one  of  the 
original  twenty  at  that  Mass,  were  respectively  treasurer  of  the  Woonsocket 
building  fund  and  committee  man  for  the  collection. 

The  people  attended  services  at  Woonsocket  until  1852,  in  which  year 
the  people  of  Blackstone  had  increased  from  twenty  to  more  than  six  hun- 
dred, and  Bishops  Fitzpatrick  and  O’Reilly  “ agreed”  upon  the  appointment 
of  Rev.  Charles  O’Reilly,  who  had  been  from  1846  pastor  at  Woonsocket,  as 
the  first  resident  pastor.  The  new  parish  lines  embraced  land  in  both  dio- 
ceses, hence  the  reason  for  the  Bishop’s  agreement.  Father  O’Reilly,  the 
new  rector,  was  a cousin  of  Bishop  O’Reilly,  of  the  Hartford  diocese,  and  was 
but  a short  time  in  Blackstone  before  receiving  generous  help  in  his  church 
work  from  every  side. 

Welcome  Farnum,  the  owner  of  the  woolen  mills  at  Waterford,  one  of 
the  villages  making  up  the  town  of  Blackstone,  had  brought  to  his  mills  from 
Ireland  skilled  weavers  in  wool.  These  people  earned  his  good  will,  and  he 
showed  this  by  presenting  to  their  priest  the  deed  of  a plot  of  land  for  a 
church,  and  $500,  with  which  to  begin  operations.  The  land  given  by  Mr. 
Farnum  was  on  the  line  dividing  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island,  and  here- 
on St.  Paul’s  church  a plain  Gothic  structure  in  stone  was  built.  The  main 
entrance  to  the  church  as  it  stands  to-day  is  through  a tower  reared  in  Rhode 
Island,  while  the  body  of  the  church  rests  in  Massachusetts.  The  original 
church  was  dedicated  in  1852;  the  present  church  has  been  considerably 
enlarged,  the  whole  remodeled  and  beautified  in  the  pastorate  of  Father 
William  Power.  It  will  now  seat  one  thousand  persons. 

Rev.  Charles  O’Reilly,  the  first  rector,  was  born  in  County  Cavan,  Ire- 
land, 1792,  and  there  was  educated  and  ordained  a priest.  Immediately  after 
ordination  he  went  on  the  “ foreign  missions,”  and  was  stationed  for  a while 
on  an  island  of  British  West  India.  He  built  a church  there.  He  came  to 
Woonsocket  in  1846,  and  there  remained  till  his  transfer  to  Blackstone.  He 
died  September  29,  1857,  ^.t  the  age  of  sixty-five.  He  is  buried  beside  his 
church. 

Rev.  Edward  J.  Sheridan,  who  then  was  pastor  of  St.  Mary’s  church  at 
Uxbridge,  came  in  his  stead,  October  i,  1857.  Father  Sheridan  still  retained, 
however,  the  care  of  Uxbridge,  Whitinsville,  East  Douglas  and  Manchaug, 
his  missions. 

Father  Sheridan  .set  himself  energetically  to  finish  the  church  necessarily 
left  incomplete  by  Father  O’Reilly.  This  he  did,  while  attending  at  the  same 
time  all  the  missions  lying  between  Uxbridge  and  Millbury  in  the  valley, 
and  Grafton  and  Westboro  with  their  neighborhood  beyond. 

Father  Sheridan  was  born  in  Ireland  in  1824.  He  emigrated  with  his 
parents  to  Canada  when  three  years  of  age.  At  St.  Hyacinthe’s  College,  Que- 


156 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


bee,  he  made  his  classics  and  was  graduated  therefrom  in  1848.  He  had 
studied  law,  had  been  admitted  to  the  bar  and  for  a time  had  practiced  at 
Portland,  Me.,  but  soon  tiring  of  this,  and  answering  the  spiritual  call  which 
he  had  heard  for  a long  time  from  within,  he  entered  the  Grand  Seminary, 
IMontreal,  the  following  year.  He  was  there  ordained  a priest  after  the  ordi- 
nary course  in  theology,  in  1853,  and  immediately  after  was  appointed  pastor 
of  St.  Mary’s  church,  Uxbridge.  Father  O’Reilly  had  commenced  here  the 
building  of  the  church  and  Father  Sheridan  upon  his  coming  completed  it. 

At  the  death  of  Father  O’Reilly  he  came  to  Blackstone,  and  here  and  on 
the  missions  labored  earnestly  until  1867,  when  he  was  made  pastor  of  St. 
Vincent’s  church,  Purchase  street,  Boston. 

In  1871  he  was  transferred  to  St.  Mary’s,  Taunton,  where  he  died  August 
19,  1896. 

His  death  came  suddenly  while  at  duty  in  the  vestry  of  his  church.  He 
was  then  seventy-two  years  old,  and  had  been  forty-three  years  a priest. 
Father  Sheridan,  like  many  of  the  pioneer  priests  of  the  early  days,  was  of 
unique  and  strong  personality.  He  was  tall,  of  sinewy  frame,  with  shoulders 
and  arms  strong  as  steel,  and  withal  courageous  as  a lion,  as  he  needed  to  be 
in  the  times  of  long  drives  and  midnight  exposure  to  all  the  dangers  of 
the  unprotected  highways. 

The  story  is  told  of  three  men  stopping  Father  Sheridan,  who  was  return- 
ing at  midnight  from  a sick  call,  and  attempting  to  rob  him.  Sudden  as  the 
lightning  the  priest’s  long  arm  struck  down  the  man  attempting  to  enter  his 
carriage  from  the  side;  with  the  other  arm  he  grabbed  by  the  collar  the  man 
entering  the  carriage  from  behind,  and  striking  the  horse  a fierce  cut  of  the 
whip,  the  maddened  animal  leaped  over  the  third  into  the  dark  night,  and  tore 
along  frantically  towards  Woonsocket.  Father  Sheridan,  all  the  while  retain- 
ing his  grip  on  the  neck  of  the  robber,  before  the  frightened  steed  had  reached 
the  lights  of  the  town,  had  again  gotten  control  of  the  lines,  and  was  able 
forthwith  to  hand  over  the  bruised  and  bleeding  thief  to  the  mercy  of  the 
constables. 

In  Father  Sheridan’s  stead  as  pastor  of  St.  Paul’s  came  the  Rev.  Thomas 
H.  Bannon,  who  continued  his  ministrations  until  the  spring  of  1870,  when 
he  was  forced  by  ill-health  to  resign  his  charge.  He  died  of  consumption 
in  Boston  the  November  following.  Father  Bannon  was  born  in  Boston 
and  was  ordained  to  the  priesthood  in  the  seminary  at  Quebec.  This  same 
year  the  diocese  of  Springfield  was  set  off  from  Boston,  and  the  new  bishop- 
elect,  even  before  his  consecration,  gave  Rev.  William  A.  Power,  then 
assistant  to  his  brother,  Rev.  Dr.  J.  J.  Power  of  Worcester,  his  choice  of  the 
rectorship  of  the  new  cathedral  at  Springfield,  or  the  pastorate  of  St.  Paul’s. 
He  chose  the  latter,  and  is  now  rounding  out  the  twenty-ninth  year  of  a 
continuous  and  happy  service. 

There  have  been  5,815  baptisms,  1412  marriages,  and  25  conversions  from 
Protestantism  since  the  founding  of  the  parish.  These  converts  were  mostly 
Americans,  and  with  one  exception  (a  lawyer)  laboring  people. 

The  parish  owns  a stone  church  ; a parochial  residence  which  stands  on 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


157 


a plot  of  ten  acres ; a two-story  frame  building  8o  x 42,  called  Institute  Hall, 
built  in  1874  at  a cost  of  $9,000,  and  containing  a large  hall,  used  Sundays 
for  catechism,  and  having  a seating  capacity  of  seven  hundred  ; and  three 
small  halls  for  the  use  of  societies  attached  to  the  church,  and  St.  Paul’s 
cemetery,  bought  in  1850,  to  which,  by  the  present  rector,  there  have  been 
made  three  considerable  additions,  the  last,  in  1 898, — a plot  of  land  of  four 
acres  with  a small  cottage  house  thereon. 

The  curates  of  this  parish  have  been  Rev.  Henry  Marie  Smyth,  from 
November  5,  1865,  to  the  going  of  Father  Sheridan,  1867;  Rev.  Bartholomew 
McKeany  from  1876  to  1879;  Rev.  Daniel  O’Sullivan,  1879  to  his  death, 
1885;  Rev.  John  D.  McGann,  1885  to  January,  1888;  Rev.  James  M.  Prender- 
gast,  January,  1888,  till  October,  1890;  Rev.  James  A.  Hurley,  October,  1890, 
till  March,  1898,  and  Rev.  William  Adrain,  who  came  June,  1898,  and  is  still 
at  labor. 

Within  the  forty-seven  years  of  the  parish  life,  there  have  been  four 
pastors  and  seven  assistants,  and  the  people  have  increased  from  the  score  of 
Catholics  who  heard  the  first  Mass  in  1834  to  six  hundred  in  1852,  and  now, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1899,  to  more  than  two  and  a half  thousands. 

The  earliest  Catholics  were  to  a man  of  Irish  origin.  The  present  con- 
gregation is  one-seventh  French  Canadian  ; the  balance,  like  the  pioneers, 
are  Irish  by  birth  or  blood. 

There  are  many  marvels  to  be  recorded  in  the  history  of  the  Catholic 
parishes  of  New  England.  The  mustard  seed  in  a thousand  places  has  become 
a great  tree,  and  so  it  is  in  Blackstone.  The  score  of  poor  Irish  immigrants, 
who  gathered  about  Father  Fitton,  eager-eyed  and  hungry-hearted  for  the 
things  of  God,  sixty-five  years  ago,  were  exposed  to  the  jibes  of  the  ignorant 
and  unkindly  portion  of  the  community  into  which  they  came ; but  they  bore 
themselves  patiently,  with  eyes  lifted  to  the  sky  and  have  become  in  our  da}' 
a people  blessed  of  God  and  man.  To-day  they  are  prosperous  and  powerful. 
When  we  except  the  mills,  two-thirds  of  all  the  real  estate  of  the  town  is  in 
their  hands. 

The  majority  of  the  teachers  in  the  schools  are  their  children.  They  fill 
most  of  the  town  offices.  One  of  them  is  representative  in  the  Massachusetts 
State  Legislature.  Many  of  them  are  in  the  liberal  professions,  and  several, 
by  the  grace  of  God,  have  found  their  vocations  in  the  priesthood.  All  of 
this  their  pastor  can  write  of  them,  and  still  add  that  “ the  same  love  of  faith 
that  characterized  the  first  settlers  is  to-day  conspicuous  in  their  children.” 

Rev.  William  A.  Power,  the  present  pastor,  was  born  in  Charlestown, 
Mass.,  in  1837,  and  was  ordained  a priest  by  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Timon  in  the 
cathedral  at  Buffalo,  N.  Y.  in  June,  1866.  He  was  at  once  assigned  by  the 
Bishop  of  Boston  as  assistant  to  his  brother,  the  pastor  of  St.  Paul’s,  Wor- 
cester, whence  he  was  called  to  Blackstone. 

Father  Power  is  a scholarly,  kindly  man,  gentle  of  speech  and  manner. 
It  is  not  the  gentleness  of  weakness,  however,  for  he  is  one  of  the  manliest 
of  men,  and  has  plenty  of  fire,  which  has  suddenly  flashed  and  burned  more 
times  than  one  when  defence  of  his  church  or  his  people  called  ; but  his  is 


158 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


the  gentleness  of  one  who  loves  God  and  God’s  creatures.  Though  an  invalid 
for  years,  he  seems  to  be  ever  the  happiest  of  men.  “Father  William” 
everybody  calls  him,  and  everybody  likes  to  be  near  him.  He  always  has 
worn  “ the  white  flower  of  a blameless  life,”  and  one  who  wrote  of  him  did 
not  say  untruly  when  he  penned  that  there  was  about  Father  William  Power 
“ sunshine  and  the  soft  rains  of  spring,  and  the  voices  of  little  children  gather- 
ing flowers  for  Our  Lady’saltar.”  In  1893  he  received  the  unanimous  vote  of 
his  brother  priests  for  a place  on  the  Bishop’s  council,  and,  re-elected  in  the 
same  manner,  he  still  serves. 

ST.  ANTHONY  OF  PADUA’S  CHURCH, 

West  Boylston. 

(5  I HE  first  public  act  of  worship  by  the  Catholics  of  West  Boylston,  now 
^ I organized  as  the  parish  of  St.  Anthony  of  Padua,  dates  back  to  1 843 
or  1844.  Before  this,  the  Catholic  pioneers  tell  us,  after  a week  of 
toilsome  labor,  they  would  gather  into  some  house,  and  there  recite  the 
Rosary,  make  the  Stations  of  the  Cross  before  a set  of  small  pictures,  and 
sing  hymns,  as  had  been  their  custom  in  the  old  lands.  They  were  Irish  or 
French-Canadians.  The  differences  of  tongue  made  necessary  two  gather- 
ings. The  Canadians  grouped  around  one  of  their  countrymen  who  could 
read  books  of  piety,  while  the  Irish  in  somewhat  like  manner  did  the  same 
elsewhere. 

In  1845  they  united  their  efforts  and  pledged  themselves  to  support  the 
minister  of  God  generously.  Both  Irish  and  French  numbered  then  about 
thirty-five  families.  A priest  was  promised,  and  Father  George  Reardon, 
pastor  of  Springfield,  came.  He  offered  the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass  for 
the  first  time  in  West  Boylston  in  1846.  Thereafter  the  people  had  Mass 
once  a month.  Father  Gibson  came  to  the  Irish  after  1846,  while  the  French 
were  cared  for  by  Rev.  Philip  Sacchi,  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  The  house  of 
Felix  Nugent,  on  French  Hill,  and  that  of  Jean  Richard,  on  Beaman  street, 
were  made  the  chapel  when  either  of  the  missionary  Fathers  came  to  the 
town. 

Shortly  after.  Mass  was  offered  in  Oakdale,  in  the  house  of  Moise  Roy, 
and  in  that  of  James  Hartigan.  In  1847  Father  Gibson,  alternating  with 
Father  Meigneault,  came  for  Mass  twice  in  the  month,  the  French  defraying 
expenses  one  Sunday  and  the  Irish  the  other. 

In  1852  a plot  of  land  was  bought,  and  in  1853  Father  Gibson  began  the 
erection  of  a modest  chapel,  called  St.  Luke’s.  This  was  completed  by  Rev. 
Father  L’Eveque  in  1854.  In  1856  Father  Gibson  left  the  care  of  Worcester 
and  the  missions  to  Rev.  John  Boyce.  Rev.  Father  Noiseux  acted  as  assist- 
ant, with  special  care  of  the  French,  until  1857,  when  Rev.  P.  T.  O’Reilly, 
afterwards  first  Bishop  of  Springfield,  came  to  the  mission  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Rev.  Father  Boyce.  He  enlarged  and  repaired  St.  Luke’s  chapel,  and 
attended  to  its  interests  till  1862,  when  Clinton  was  made  a parish  and  West 
Boylston  became  its  mission.  Rev.  Father  Connolly  was  in  charge  for  one 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


159 


year,  then  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Fathers  Quinn  and  O’Keefe,  who  served 
till  Rev.  R.  J.  Paterson  was  appointed  pastor  in  1868. 

Some  years  later  the  families  who  had  established  the  little  mission  were 
joined  by  other  Catholics,  most  of  whom  came  for  work  in  the  boot  shops, 
and  the  settlement  was  thought  important  enough  to  be  made  a parish. 

In  1869,  accordingly.  Rev.  A.  J.  Derbuel  was  appointed  the  first  resident 
pastor  of  St.  Luke’s,  and  was  given,  in  addition,  the  care  of  the  church  of 
Shrewsbury.  He  shortly  afterwards  established  a mission  at  Sawyer’s  Mills, 
in  the  town  of  Boylston.  Under  his  skilful  management  the  parish  grew 
rapidly.  The  old  St.  Luke’s  chapel  soon  became  too  small  for  the  people’s 
needs,  and  steps  were  taken  towards  the  building  of  a more  spacious  and 
becoming  place  of  worship.  A house  with  a large  plot  of  land  was 
bought  in  a most  pleasant  location,  between  the  villages  of  West  Boylston 
and  Oakdale.  At  about  the  same  time  also  twelve  acres  of  land  were  pur- 
chased for  a cemetery.  The  people  were  delighted  at  these  shows  of  zeal, 
and  their  offerings  came,  prompt  and  generous,  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  their 
pastor. 

In  1878,  while  the  pastor  was  in  Europe  in  quest  of  health,  the  parish 
sustained  a heavy  loss  in  the  burning  of  the  parochial  house.  Rev.  A.  Del- 
phos,  who  was  then  in  charge  of  the  parish,  escaped  from  the  building  with 
difficulty. 

The  contract  for  building  the  new  church  was  given  out  in  1879,  and 
November  24,  1882,  it  was  dedicated,  under  the  patronage  of  St.  Anthony. 
A handsome  building  and  a most  becoming  place  of  worship  it  was.  It 
seated  700  people,  was  the  pride  of  the  Catholics,  and  an  ornament  to  the 
town.  A house  for  the  priest  was  bought  June  7,  1881,  and  a stable  built 
nearby. 

The  task  of  organizing  the  parish,  building  the  church  and  caring  for  the 
missions  attached  to  West  Boylston  (Holden  was  then  a mission  to  West 
Boylston)  soon  beat  down  the  already  impaired  health  of  the  pastor,  and  in 
May,  1886,  God  called  him. 

Father  Joyce,  who  was  then  the  curate,  was  left  in  charge  of  the  parish 
till  October  of  the  same  year,  when  Rev.  D.  F.  Feehan  was  named  the 
pastor.  He  was  zealous  and  successful.  His  knowledge  of  the  French  lan- 
guage, his  readiness  to  speak  it,  and  his  good  will  endeared  him  to  the  Cana- 
dian people,  who  then  numbered  four-fifths  of  the  Catholic  population.  He 
soon  had  a fair  portion  of  the  church  debt  paid  and  extensive  repairs  made  on 
the  church  and  the  house.  Through  his  efforts  a beautiful  monument  was 
erected  to  the  memory  of  his  predecessor.  Father  Derbuel. 

In  the  fall  of  1888  he  was  called  to  take  charge  of  St.  Bernard’s  parish  at 
Fitchburg.  He  is  now  its  permanent  rector.  His  successor  was  Rev.  J.  B. 
V.  Campeau.  Under  Father  Campeau  the  church  debt  was  being  rapidly 
paid,  and  the  erection  of  parochial  schools  planned,  when,  on  the  2d  of  May, 
1890,  the  church  was  burned  to  the  ground.  This  was  a great  blow,  both  to 
the  pastor  and  people.  After  the  fire  their  worldly  values  summed  up  but 
$2800,  but  they  had  energy  and  good  will.  They  were  united,  too,  and  im- 


160 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


mediately  decided  to  build  a new  church,  surpassing,  if  possible,  even  the 
beauty  of  the  one  whose  loss  had  cost  them  bitter  tears. 

Before  the  end  of  the  following  month,  June,  1890,  the  walls  of  the  base- 
ment were  in  place,  and  the  work  on  the  superstructure  was  begun.  A 
church  more  beautiful  than  the  old  was  completed  in  November,  1891,  and 
dedicated  to  God  by  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  O’Reilly. 

But  now  came  a new  hardship.  By  act  of  the  legislature  of  the  State  of 
Massachusetts,  about  this  time,  a mammoth  reservoir  was  ordered  built  for 
Boston  and  the  neighboring  cities.  West  Boylston  is  to  be  annihilated  by 
this  enterprise.  In  December,  1896,  the  property  of  the  Catholic  church  had 
to  be  sold  to  the  State.  For  three  years  the  people  may  use  the  church,  then 
nothing  of  St.  Anthony’s  parish  will  remain  save  the  ennobling  memory  of  the 
sacrifices  and  victories  of  a good  people. 

The  property  comprised  in  the  above  sale  embraces  the  new  church  of 
St.  Anthony,  the  land,lthe  parochial  house  and  the  stable,  with  old  St.  Luke’, 
and  its  land,  all  situated  in  the  town  of  West  Boylston,  together  with  the 
church  and  land  in  Sawyer’s  Mills. 

The  mission  of  Sawyer’s  Mills  was  established  by  Rev.  A.  J.  Derbuel  in 
1873.  The  first  Mass  was  held  in  the  basement  of  the  old  school-house  near 
the}  Lancaster  Mills  by  Rev.  Richard  Walsh,  then  assistant  to  Father  Der- 
buel. The  mission  remained  under  the  care  of  the  pastors  of  West  Boylston, 
who  held  services  in  the  school  basement  till  1890,  when  Rev.  J.  B.  V.  Campeau 
built  a chapel.  This  was  dedicated  under  the  name  of  the  Sacred  Heart  on 
Palm  Sunday,  1890.  It  seats  120  people,  and  amply  accommodates  the  con- 
gregation. 

Father  Campeau  was  replaced  by  Rev.  James  Galvin  February  17,  1898. 
He  is  now  pastor  at  East  Douglas.  The  curates  during  his  time  were : Father 
Andres  Oudet,  from  August,  1889,  to  February,  1891  ; Father  Caissy,  from  No- 
vember, 1892,  to  July,  1893;  Father  O’Connor,  from  July,  1893,  to  Septem- 
ber, 1895  ; Father  J.  A.  Lord,  from  September,  1895,  to  May,  1897  ; Father  A. 
P.  Powers,  from  May,  1897,  to  January,  1898. 

In  April,  1899,  Rev.  James  Galvin  was  transferred  to  Shelburne  Falls, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Father  Balthasard,  who  is  yet  the  pastor. 

ST.  JOSEPH’S  CHURCH. 

North  Brookfield. 

KATHER  FITTON  says  that  a “station”  was  held  at  Brookfield,  while 
the  Boston  and  Albany  Railroad  was  in  process  of  construction ; and 
inasmuch  as  the  road  was  opened  for  traffic  on  October  i,  1839,  it  fol- 
lows that  before  that  date.  Father  Fitton  had  found  Catholics  here  and  had 
remained  with  them  long  enough  to  hear  their  confessions  and  say  Masses 
for  their  benefit.  It  is  safe  to  infer  that  he  came  more  than  once. 

It  may  be  that  those  for  whose  care  he  came,  moved  on  with  the  “ work  ” 
of  the  road,  as  was  the  case  usually;  though  frequently,  some  of  our  people 
remained  in  every  town  after  the  great  laboring  army  moved  on.  We  are  not 
able  to  say  what  men  stayed  ; or  that  any  man  of  the  first  laborers  lingered. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


161 


The  earliest  Catholic  Irishman  of  whom  we  now  have  knowledge  was 
William  Noone,  who  came  from  Ireland  in  1843  or  1844. 

The  parish  records  at  St.John’s  church,  Worcester,  1846,  prove  that  the 
pastor  came  thence  at  divers  times  to  minister  in  North  Brookfield.  Father 
Gibson  was  then  the  priest  in  charge.  The  following  year  Rev.  John  Boyce 
was  associated  with  him.  The  old  residents  say  that  Father  Boyce  also  came 
at  intervals. 

The  records  are  meager  for  the  ten  years  following;  though,  in  1853,  we 
hear  of  more  than  a score  of  Catholic  Irishmen,  who  came  some  time  before 
that  date.  Some  of  the  names  have  been  preserved.  They  were  James  Downey, 
Charles  Quigley,  James  Dempsey,  William  Egan,  Patrick  Powers,  Mortimer 
Howard  ist,  Mortimer  Howard,  2d,  William  Doyle,  Denis  Gleason,  Eugene 
Howard,  (whose  two  sons  became  priests  of  our  diocese, — Michael,  died,  the 
first  pastor  of  the  church  of  the  Holy  Rosary,  Holyoke,  and  James  is  yet 
a.ssistant  at  St.  Peter’s,  Worcester),  Bartholomew  Howard,  John  Daley,  John 
Fennell,  Michael  Murphy,  James  Hennessey,  John  Gorman,  Edward  Dowl- 
ing, and  John  Carter. 

A great  deal  of  feeling  obtained  against  the  Catholics  of  the  old  days, 
and  seldom  was  opportunity  to  harass  the  poor  people  let  pass  unimproved. 
No  place  or  person  was  sacred  in  the  eyes  of  the  bigots. 

At  one  of  the  early  Masses  a man  named  Kimball  attended,  and  during 
the  solemn  ceremony  openly  laughed  at  the  worshippers  and  ridiculed  the 
priest.  The  people  bore  with  him  for  a space,  till,  encouraged  by  seeming 
immunity,  he  grew  boisterous,  then  William  Egan  took  him  in  hands,  and  lead- 
ing him  from  the  place,  soundly  kicked  and  cuffed  him  to  his  heart’s  content. 

This  feeling  of  hatred  grew  as  the  Catholics  increased  in  importance. 
It  was  intensified  in  the  Know-Nothing  period  a little  later.  It  culminated 
at  the  Christmas  time  of  1856,  in  a dastardly  attempt  on  the  part  of  some 
miscreants  to  tar  and  feather  the  missionary  priest.  Father  Meigneault,  who 
at  that  time  began  to  regularly  visit  the  Catholics  of  North  Brookfield. 
They  had  heard  of  the  treatment  of  Father  Bapst  at  Ellsworth,  Me.,  and 
thought  to  repeat  the  deed  here.  Word  reached  the  Catholics  that  Father 
Meigneault  would  be  waylaid  on  Christmas  morning  when  expected  from 
Spencer.  Thirteen  sturdy  Catholic  Irishmen,  armed  in  honesty  of  purpose, 
and  with  hearts  aflame  for  the  priest’s  protection,  went  to  the  place  agreed 
upon  for  the  outrage.  Their  set  faces  cowed  the  bigots,  and  Father  Meigneault 
passed  unscathed  to  the  house  assigned  him.  In  the  morning  he  said  Mass 
for  the  people,  and  attended  to  all  their  spiritual  wants. 

In  view  of  the  present  unfortunate  show  of  race  feeling  at  North  Brook- 
field, it  is  interesting  to  recall  the  fact  that  Father  Meigneault  was  a French- 
Canadian,  and  the  men  who  went  out  to  the  Spencer  line  ready  to  face  death 
in  his  defense  were  Irishmen. 

Father  L’Eveque  said  the  fir.st  Mass  of  which  there  is  now  certain 
memory,  in  the  house  of  William  Doyle.  The  house  then  stood  on  North 
Main  street,  but  has  since  been  moved  to  Bell  street,  and  is  occupied  now  by 
the  family  of  Michael  Murphy. 

II 


1G2 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Beyond  a doubt  Masses  other  than  those  said  by  Father  Fitton  were 
offered  up  in  North  Brookfield  before  this;  for  the  records  at  St.  Michael’s 
in  Springfield  show  that  Fathers  Riordan  and  Doherty,  who  were  pastors  in 
1846  and  1848,  had  come  more  times  than  one  to  North  Brookfield,  as  did 
Father  Edward  Sheridan,  of  Uxbridge  and  Blackstone,  after  1853. 

Masses  were  said  at  divers  times  in  the  homes  of  Owen  Howard,  John 
Daniels,  Patrick  Marra,  and  the  Hennessy  family. 

During  Father  Healy’s  pastorate  of  Ware,  North  Brookfield  received 
his  regular  attendance.  He  purchased  the  land  whereon  sits  St.  Joseph’s 
church,  and  Father  Moran,  his  successor,  built  the  church.  This  church 
will  seat  six  hundred.  For  two  years  preceding  the  building  of  the  church. 
Father  Healy  said  Mass  in  the  Town  Hall.  At  this  time  great  difficulty 
was  experienced  in  getting  land  for  parish  purposes.  Many  respectable  peo- 
ple had  a kindly  feeling  for  the  Irish  Catholics,  but  others  would  not  have 
them  near.  A home  could  not  then  be  purchased  by  any  of  them  on  North 
Main  street,  even  though  the  money  was  held  in  hand  wherewith  to  pay  for 
it.  By  a strange  irony  of  fate  nearly  the  whole  of  this  splendid  street  to-day 
belongs  to  their  children.  For  a greater  reason  the  town’s-people  would  not 
sell  land  for  church  purposes  ; and  when  it  became  necessary  to  procure  land 
for  such  purposes  the  kindly  offices  of  a Protestant  neighbor  had  to  be  en- 
gaged. The  Hon.  Amasa  Walker  bought  for  the  Catholics  the  site  for  their 
cemetery,  and  another  neighbor  purchased  the  land  for  the  church. 

A portion  of  the  Penobscot  Indians  were  encamped  on  the  church  site 
at  the  time  of  the  purchase. 

Father  L’Eveque  came  from  Millbury,  and  officiated  while  en  route  at 
Spencer.  Later  on  when  the  church  was  built  in  the  latter  town,  the  people 
from  the  Brookfields  walked  the  four  miles  of  hill  and  dale  intervening, 
glad  to  hear  Mass,  and  back  the  four  miles  to  their  homes  again.  Men  and 
women  did  this  regularly. 

July  20,  1867,  North  Brookfield  was  made  a parish  by  Bishop  Williams, 
and  Rev.  Edward  Turpin  was  named  its  first  resident  pastor.  The  day  of 
Father  Turpin’s  appointment  the  church  was  dedicated  by  Bishop  Williams, 
who  also  said  the  Mass,  and  confirmed  352  people.  Father  Turpin  died  Sep- 
tember 6,  1 868,  and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Austin  Becker,  O.  S.  F.  He  left 
October  7th,  same  year.  Rev.  Henry  Mari^  Smyth,  who  succeeded,  was  born 
in  the  town  of  Monaghan,  county  of  Monaghan,  Ireland,  in  1839;  studied  in  St. 
MacCartin’s  college,  in  his  native  town  ; immigrated  to  the  United  States  in 
i860;  renewed  his  studies  in  St.  Charles’  college,  EHicott’s  Mills,  Maryland  ; 
from  there  he  entered  Nicolet  college,  Canada,  where  he  finished  a classical 
course,  and  then  entered  the  Grand  Seminary,  Montreal,  for  the  study  of  the- 
ology. He  was  ordained  a priest  in  SS.  Peter  and  Paul’s  Cathedral,  Provi- 
dence, Rhode  Island,  by  Right  Rev.  Francis  Patrick  McFarland,  Bishop  of 
Hartford,  on  Saturday,  November  4,  1865.  He  celebrated  his  first  Mass  in  St. 
Paul’s  church,  Blackstone,  Sunday,  November  5,  1865,  having  received  from 
Rev.  John  J.  Williams,  V.  G.,  the  appointment  as  assistant  pastor  to  Rev.  E. 
J.  Sheridan. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


163 


When  Father  Sheridan  was  named  pastor  of  St.  Vincent’s  church,  Bos- 
ton, Father  Smyth  continued  with  him  as  curate,  until  appointed  pastor  of 
North  Brookfield. 

During  his  assistant  pastorate  in  Boston  he  was  elected  chaplain  of  the 
Ninth  Massachusetts  Regiment,  and  was  commissioned  as  such  by  Governor 
Alexander  H.  Bullock  on  August  3,  1868.  He  died  at  the  parochial  resi- 
dence in  North  Brookfield  on  October  22,  1871,  aged  thirty-two. 

Father  Michael  Walsh  came  to  the  rectorship  November  i ith,  after  the 
death  of  Father  Smyth . When  he  came  the  parish  was  weighed  down  with 
a debt  of  $13,000.  He  set  himself  to  the  paying  of  this,  and  when  he  died  in 
May,  1885,  every  penny  of  the  debt  had  been  cleared. 

Rev.  Michael  Walsh  was  a great  loss  to  the  people.  They  loved  him  with 
a personal  love  beyond  that  which  is  ordinarily  given  the  priests.  He  was  a 
typical  Irishman,  fond  of  a song  and  a story,  of  a sunny  disposition,  and  a 
player  of  practical  jokes,  whose  fun  always  took  a kindly  turn,  however  ; and 
with  all  this,  he  was  every  inch  a true  priest.  It  has  been  said  of  him  that  in 
the  winters  of  his  time  he  was  obliged  to  go  on  sick  calls,  or  in  the  perform- 
ance of  his  other  duties,  over  bad  roads  with  the  snow  at  times  as  high  as  his 
arm  pits,  and  yet  no  one  ever  saw  Father  Walsh  in  bad  humor  or  cross-grained 
because  the  call  had  come.  When  excuses  were  made  for  bringing  the  father 
into  the  storm,  it  was  always  met  with  a sally  of  kindly  wit,  and  when  the 
poor  called  the  kindness  was  the  greater.  No  wonder,  therefore  that  the 
people  loved  the  good  priest,  and  this  they  showed  after  his  death  by  erecting 
over  his  body  a monument  that  speaks  of  the  high  regard  in  which  he  was 
held. 

Rev.  Janies  P.  Tuite  succeeded  him  in  the  June  of  the  same  year.  Father 
Tuite  was  born  in  Blackstone,  Mass.,  where  he  received  his  early  education. 
He  was  graduated  at  St.  Charles  College,  Ellicott  City,  Md.,  and  was  ordained 
to  the  priesthood  at  the  Grand  Seminary,  Montreal,  December  22,  1877.  He 
was  at  once  assigned  to  St.  Anne’s  church,  Worcester,  as  curate  to  Rev. 
Denis  Scannell ; next  for  a while  to  Millbury  ; then  to  St.  John’s  church, 
Clinton.  He  was  at  Clinton  three  years,  when  called  to  North  Brookfield. 

When  Father  Scannell  died  in  August  of  the  present  year.  Father  Tuite 
was  promoted  to  the  fine  parish  of  St.  Anne,  where  he  had  begun  his  priestly 
labors  twenty-two  years  before.  When  he  came  to  North  Brookfield,  the 
parish  was  free  of  debt.  He  bought  a house  for  a parish  home  shortly  after 
coming.  That  house  is  now  the  home  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  who  teach  the 
parish  schools.  Next  the  parishioners  enabled  him  to  put  a bell  in  the  church 
tower.  In  1888,  he  was  empowered  by  the  bishop  to  buy  the  splendid  Douin 
estate  in  the  sightliest  part  of  the  town,  Mt.  Pleasant,  and  calling  thereto  five 
Sisters  of  Mercy  in  August,  he  opened  a parochial  school  in  the  fall  of  the 
same  year.  It  has  been  successful ; and  now,  exclusive  of  the  French  chil- 
dren, whose  parents  have  been  at  variance  with  Father  Tuite  through  racial 
reasons,  three  hundred  pupils,  boys  and  girls,  are  daily  taught  by  the  nine 
nuns.  The  school  has  equal  grades  with  the  town  schools..  The  graduates 
compare  favorably  with  the  best  the  other  schools  produce. 


164 


DIOCESE  01  SPRINGFIELD. 


The  parish  has  a large  tract  of  la;nd,  a church  and  school,  convent,  pres- 
bytery and  stable.  All  the  buildings  are  in  excellent  condition  well  lighted 
and  ventilated,  and  steam  heat  makes  them  comfortable.  The  church  is  free 
of  debt. 

The  people  in  general  are  thrifty  and  orderly.  Many  are  bootmakers, 
store-keepers  and  farmers.  They  have  considerable  political  influence,  which, 
under  advice  from  the  pastor,  has  been  used  in  the  interests  of  sobriety  and 
public  order  for  years.  There  is  no  open  saloon  in  North  Brookfield  ; and 
this  is  owing  to  the  Catholic  voters.  For  some  years  now,  however,  a most 
unhappy  and  scandalons  rebellion  against  parochial  and  diocesan  authority, 
on  the  part  of  the  French-Cauadian  people  of  the  parish,  has  been  working 
incalculable  harm  in  North  Brookfield.  The  spirit  of  Cahensleyism  is  ripe 
there ; and  some  of  the  poor  Canadians,  led  by  firebrands  from  among  their 
own  countrymen,  have  made  loud  demands  for  a priest,  who  would  preach  to 
them  in  French.  This  seemingly  pardonable  claim  covered  a dark  design,  as 
their  subsequent  acts  have  proved. 

Father  Tuite  is  said  to  know  French  sufficiently  well  for  all  practical 
purposes;  but,  that  no  excuse  might  be  left  the  malcontents,  the  bishop  in 
1891  sent  them,  as  Father  Tuite’ s assistant.  Rev.  Phileas  Trottier,  who  is 
a French  Canadian  by  birth  and  training.  The  war  did  not  cease.  They 
still  wanted  their  own  man,  and  through  him  their  own  management  in  every 
parish  concern. 

Bishop  Beaven  is  known  to  be  nnusnally  considerate  and  gentle,  but 
when  the  rightful  exercise  of  his  episcopal  authority  is  denied  him,  and  that 
contumacionsly,  he  can  be,  and  is,  as  uncompromisingly  dure  and  immovable 
as  the  heart  of  Mt.  Tom.  Bishop  Beaven  rules  the  diocese  of  Springfield  ; 
he  is  thought  to  rule  it  with  absolute  fairness;  and  the  men  of  North  Brook- 
field who  thus  far  have  failed  to  see  these  two  facts,  are  thought  by  the  rest 
of  us  to  be  as  blind  as  Bartimeus. 

There  is  small  sympathy  with  them  in  any  quarter,  and  whatever  pity 
may  have  been  theirs  hitherto  is  now  lost  them,  by  the  shameful  extremes 
to  which  they  have  gone  within  the  present  summer.  They  have  brought  in, 
and  they  support  an  interloping  priest  who  is  without  credit,  who  has  no 
authority  to  exercise  priestly  functions,  and  who  presumes  to  continue  in 
spite  of  the  express  prohibition  of  the  bishop.  They  have  thus  flung  the  last 
insult  into  the  face  of  authority,  and  only  the  most  mischievous  consequences 
can  be  looked  for. 

Not  until  the  close  of  the  war  did  any  Canadians  come.  Now  they 
number  800,  while  the  general  parish  connt  is  2,300. 

Upon  Father  Tuite’s  promotion  to  Worcester,  Rev.  Humphrey  J. 
Wren  was  made  pastor  of  St.  Joseph’s  parish.  Father  Wren  was  born  in 
Greenwich,  August  29th,  1861,  was  educated  in  the  schools  of  that  village, 
and  then  made  most  of  his  classical  studies  at  St.  Hyacinthe  college  in  Canada. 

He  completed  his  college  course  at  North  Easton,  Erie  county,  Penna. 
After  gradnating  there  he  returned  to  St.  Hyacinthe  college  and  was  a professor 
in  that  institution  for  three  years.  He  entered  the  Grand  Seminary  at  Mon- 


Rev.  JOHN  F.  LEONARD. 


Rev.  H.  J.  WREN. 


Rev.  M.  J.  MURPHY. 


Rev.  william  F.  GRACE. 


Rev.  P.  TROTTIER. 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGEIELD. 


165 


treal  for  his  theological  studies,  and  on  May  30,  1889,  he  was  ordained  a 
priest  at  St.  Hj'acinthe  college.  Immediately  upon  ordination  Father  Wren 
went  to  Ashburnham,  where  he  served  eight  months.  He  was  then  sent  to 
South  Hadley  Falls,  which  parish  included  Plainville.  Here  he  built  a little 
church  for  the  French  people. 

He  was  sent  to  Warren  as  curate  to  Rev.  J.  T.  Madden,  now  pastor  at 
Webster.  After  a short  stay  at  Warren,  Father  Wren  was  made  rector  of 
the  parish  of  Mittineague,  which  then  included  East  and  West  Longmeadow. 
When  the  bishop  divided  the  parish  of  Warren,  Father  Wren  was  made  the 
pastor  of  West  Warren,  and  here  he  was  on  duty  when  called  to  Brookfield. 
He  is  a bright,  amiable  man,  as  much  at  home  in  French  as  in  English.  He 
knows  the  French  people  and  their  manners  from  A to  Z,  their  virtues,  their 
weaknesses  and  their  sympathies.  He  is  of  light  heart,  and  a raconteur  of 
unusual  skill,  whose  stories  have  more  of  hearty  laughter  than  weight  of 
tears.  He  has  large  capacity  for  work  with  all  this,  and,  if  any  man  can 
satisfy  the  complaining  people  he  would  appear  to  be  that  one. 

There  have  been  since  the  founding  of  the  parish  3,540  baptisms,  670 
marriages,  and  10  conversions.  Some  of  these  latter  became  Catholics  when 
about  to  marry  Catholics.  Some  few  persevered,  and  those  who  did  are 
fervent  and  edifying.  John  Rusk  came  to  the  church  in  1865,  and  was 
faithful  to  his  death  in  1886.  William  Vance  was  baptized  on  his  death  bed 
in  1883,  as  was  Moses  Tyler,  a member  of  one  of  the  oldest  families  of  the 
town. 

The  curates  have  been  Father  Cronin,  three  years,  January,  1873,  to 
November,  1876;  Father  Conway,  three  years,  November,  1876,  to  Septem- 
ber, 1879;  Father  Foley,  six  years,  September,  1879,  to  May,  1885;  Father 
Joyce,  three  months  ; and  Father  Trottier,  from  July  23,  1891,  to  August,  1899. 

This  parish  includes,  as  missions,  New  Braintree  and  Oakham. 


ST.  MARY’S  CHURCH,/- 

^ * 

Brookfield. 

f.  ♦ . 

Missions: — St.  John’s  Church,  East  Brookfield;  S^red  Heart, Church, 

West  Brookfield. 


JN  the  party  of  men  under  the  command  of  Captain  Whejeljirand  Hutch- 
inson, ambushed  by  the  Indians  at  Wickaboag  Pond- in  1675,  we  find 
the  names  of  Timothy  Farley  and  John  (Me)  Coye.  Iti  1706  at  Brook- 
field the  Indians  killed  John  Cleary.  These  people  were  unquestionably 
Irish.  We  cannot  now  make  proof  that  they  were  Catholics. 

In  1717  there  came  to  Brookfield  Margaret  Baker  and  her  husband.  Cap- 
tain Thomas  Baker.  She  was  the  famous  Christine  Otis,  who,  with  her 
mother  a captive,  had  been  taken  from  Dover,  N.  H.,  to  Canada  by  the  In- 
dians in  1689,  was  there  baptized  and  reared  a Catholic,  and  at  sixteen  had 
returned  to  Boston  with  her  lover,  Baker ; under  his  influence  and  that  of 
Parson  Stoddard,  of  Northampton,  she  lost  her  faith,  and  was  rebaptized  a 
Protestant,  June  5,  1716.  Shortly  after  her  coming  to  Brookfield  her  half- 


166 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD, 


brother,  Philip  Robitaille,  came  to  visit  her,  and  remained  a year.  He  was 
a Catholic.' 

John  Woolcot,  a lad  of  twelve  years,  had  been  taken  to  Canada,  and  like 
other  captives,  had  grown  so  attached  to  Indian  and  Canadian  ways  (and  we 
may  infer,  faith),  as  to  be  unwilling  to  permanently  remain  in  Brookfield.  He 
was  killed  coming  down  the  Connecticut  with  a load  of  furs  in  1828. 

This  was  the  year  after  the  reception  by  Christine  of  the  famous  letter 
from  her  old  confessor,  “the  seminary  priest,”  Father  Segnenot,  who  earn- 
estly besought  Christine,  his  “spiritual  daughter,”  to  return  to  the  Church. 

Governor  Burnet  undertook  to  answer  the  priest,  and  the  two  letters 
were  afterwards  translated  and  printed  at  Boston.  Christine  remained  in 
Brookfield  till  1732. 

We  know  nothing  definite  of  other  Catholics  till  some  time  in  1852  when 
twenty  people  gathered  in  the  home  of  Michael  and  John  Kelly,  near  the 
Boston  and  Albany  depot,  to  assist  at  Mass  offered  up  by  Rev.  Father  Bouvier. 
There  is  no  record  extant  proving  that  this  priest  came  again.  The  first  after 
him  was  Father  Meigneault  who,  after  1853,  came  regularly  once  each  month 
from  Spencer,  and  gave  the  people  his  religions  care.  This  continued  for  two 
years.  He  had  the  home  of  Mr,  William  Lahey  for  his  work  ; and  this  good 
man  himself  was  in  those  days  a familiar  figure  as  he  rode  in  the  saddle  up 
and  down  the  town  and  neighborhood  giving  word  to  the  Catholics  that  the 
priest  had  come. 

After  Father  Meigneault,  Rev.  James  Quan,  of  Webster,  assumed  the 
charge  of  Brookfield,  and  for  close  to  four  years  came  faithfully.  He  said 
Mass  in  the  home  of  Michael  Smith. 

Rev.  Patrick  Healy,  when  pastor  of  Ware  in  i860,  came,  and  finding  the 
Catholics  now  so  numerous  that  no  private  house  could  give  adequate  accom- 
modations, engaged  the  town  hall,  and  herein  for  two  years  more  gave  his 
services.  Father  Moran  succeeded  Father  Healy,  and  said  Mass  and  conferred 
the  sacraments  at  Brookfield  and  West  Brookfield  till  the  appointment,  July 
20,  1867,  of  Rev.  Edward  Turpin,  as  the  first  resident  pastor  of  North  Brook- 
field and  the  neighboring  missions.  Father  Becker  had  charge  one  month, 
then  came  Father  Smyth,  who  in  October,  1871,  died,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Father  Michael  Walsh.  He  was  pastor  upwards  of  fourteen  years  until  his 
death.  May  16,  1885. 

Brookfield  itself  was  then  set  apart  as  a parish,  and  Rev.  Cornelius  Foley, 
who  was  Father  Walsh’s  curate,  was  made  the  first  resident  pastor. 

Rev.  Charles  Grace  followed  Father  Foley.  He  died  in  1889,  and  Rev. 
Michael  Murphy,  the  present  pastor,  came  in  his  stead.  All  records  before  the 
last  decade  have  been  lost,  but  since  then  the  parish  has  known  one  hundred 
and  twenty-three  marriages,  and  five  hundred  and  thirty-seven  baptisms. 

The  twenty  people,  who  were  Irish  or  the  children  of  the  Irish,  at  the 
first  Mass  in  1852,  are  now  increased  to  more  than  eleven  hundred.  Of  these 
eight  hundred  are  of  Irish  blood,  and  the  rest  of  French-Canadian. 


* Miss  Baker,  Stor}^  of  Cap.,  p.  29. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


167 


The  pastor,  Rev.  Michael  J.  Murphy,  was  born  in  Suirville,  parish  of 
Moncoin,  County  Killkenny,  Ireland,  April  9,  1857.  He  attended  Waterford 
University  for  his  classics.  After  two  years  there  he  went  to  St.  John’s  col- 
lege, same  city,  where  he  completed  his  course  in  seven  years. 

He  was  ordained  by  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Powers  in  Waterford,  June  i, 
1874.  He  came  at  once  to  America,  and  was  located  by  Bishop  O’Reilly  at 
Chicopee  Falls,  assistant  to  his  old  college  friend.  Rev.  Patrick  Stone.  After 
four  years  here  he  was  sent  to  Worcester,  as  curate  at  St.  John’s  church,  and 
there  remained  till  made  pastor  of  Gardner  in  1881. 

June  17,  1889,  he  was  transferred  to  Brookfield,  and  had  Brookfield,  East 
Brookfield,  and  West  Brookfield  for  his  parish.  There  is  a church  in  each 
village;  the  one  in  Brookfield  was  built  originally  by  the  Presbyterians,  and 
after  twenty-five  years  of  use  by  them,  was  purchased  by  Father  Moran,  and 
moved  under  his  direction  to  its  present  site  and  fitted  up  for  a parish  church. 
That  in  West  Brookfield  was  built  in  1889  by  Father  Murphy,  and  the  last 
in  Bast  Brookfield,  was  a brick  school  building,  which  Father  Walsh  bought 
and  which  Father  Murphy  remodeled  into  the  pretty  church  now  blessing  the 
people. 

The  same  year  (1891)  Father  Murphy  made  extensive  repairs  on  the 
home  church.  It  was  old  and  fast  falling  into  decay  when  he  came.  He 
strengthened  the  whole  building,  made  to  it  an  addition  of  thirty  feet,  thus 
making  space  for  commodious  sanctuary  and  vestries  ; put  in  a gallery  ; 
finished  the  whole  interior  in  panel  work  of  white  wood  stained  a cherry,  and 
glorified  the  whole  temple  with  the  flood  of  light  that  streams  through 
eighteen  windows  of  stained  glass.  He  now  has  all  the  parish  property  in 
excellent  condition.  In  addition  to  the  three  churches,  the  parish  has  the 
presbytery  at  Brookfield.  The  curates  in  this  parish  have  been  Fathers  J.  G. 
Daley,  from  1891  to  1897,  inclusive  ; William  A.  Hickey,  one  month  ; M.  T. 
Burke,  three  months  ; B.  H.  Adrian,  eight  months,  and  W.  T.  Slattery,  who 
came  July  i,  1898,  and  is  at  present  there. 


ST.  JOHN’S  CHURCH, 

Clinton. 

NE  day  in  the  spring  of  1845  a traveler  would  have  been  perplexed  to 
know  what  twenty-five  people,  men  and  women,  in  attitude  of  prayer 
upon  their  knees  were  doing,  and  what  was  the  significance  of  the 
actions  of  the  man,  robed  in  white  and  gold,  who  seemed  engaged  in  solemn 
ceremony  at  an  altar. 

All  were  in  the  open  air.  Some  stakes  were  driven  into  the  ground  near 
the  altar,  and  strips  of  cotton  cloth  shaded  the  candles.  Any  one  of  the  wor- 
shippers could  have  said  that  the  first  Mass  ever  offered  in  Clinton  was  then 
being  celebrated  by  Rev.  Father  Gibson,  of  Worcester,  and  the  people 
gathered  about  him  in  rapt  adoration  were  Catholic  immigrants  who  had 
lately  come  to  the  town.  Mr.  Prendergast,  Mrs.  P,  Ryan,  and  Mrs.  McQuaid 
were  present  at  this  Mass.  For  two  years  thereafter  Father  Gibson  came  to 
the  people.  Ordinarily  he  said  Mass  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Fahey  once  in  every 


168 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


five  weeks.  The  Catholic  people  grew  in  numbers  rapidly,  and  the  need  of  a 
church  was  soon  felt.  Father  Gibson  collected  the  sum  of  seventy-five  dol- 
lars ($75.00)  to  this  end. 

In  1847  Rev.  John  Boyce  came  from  Worcester  in  his  stead.  For  awhile 
he  said  Mass,  once  a month,  in  a house  belonging  to  the  Bigelow  Carpet  Com- 
pany, and,  after  a time,  every  two  weeks.  Soon  Father  Boyce  saw  his  way 
to  the  building  of  a church.  He  bought  some  land  on  South  Main  street 
from  Abel  Rice,  and  in  1849  had  a little  church  erected.  Thenceforward  the 
people  had  Mass  every  Sunday.  This  Father  Boyce  was  the  famous  writer 
known  in  the  literary  world  as  “ Paul  Peppergrass.”  He  was  a most  eloquent 
preacher,  too.  For  thirteen  years  the  people  of  Clinton  saw  his  face  or  that 
of  his  curate.  Rev.  Patrick  T.  O’Reilly,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Springfield,  in 
spite  of  storm  or  heat  or  cold. 

Fifteen  miles  over  country  roads,  fasting,  every  Sunday  morning 
approaches  near  to  the  heroic  Both  these  men  were  brilliant  and  gifted, 
yet  the  best  they  had  in  heart  and  mind  was  none  too  good  for  the  poor  people 
whose  eyes  they  endeavored  to  keep  lifted  to  God.  Father  Boyce  was  said  to 
be  the  most  eloquent  preacher  of  his  time  in  New  England,  and  “ Some  of 
our  people  to  this  day,”  writes  Father  Patterson,  “ remember  with  affection 
and  pride  the  days  and  labors  of  Father  Boyce.”  Father  Boyce  attended  the 
people  faithfully  from  1847  to  the  December  of  1862,  when  Clinton  was  made 
a separate  parish,  and  Rev.  J.  J.  Connelly  became  its  resident  pastor.  Father 
Connelly  died  in  the  Carney  Hospital  at  Boston,  June  28th  of  the  following 
year,  and  Rev.  J.  Quinn  succeeded  him  immediately.  He  was  pastor  until 
April  14,  1868.  In  the  May  following  Father  D.  A.  O’Keefe  came.  Having 
contracted  a severe  cold  at  the  funeral  of  Father  Turpin  in  Fitchburg,  he  died 
of  its  effect  in  the  October  of  the  same  year.  Father  O’Keefe  was  deeply- 
regretted.  He  was  but  twenty-eight  years  old  when  he  died,  and  was  full  of 
holiest  promise.  His  funeral  Mass  was  said  by  Rev.  P.  T.  O’Reilly,  then 
pastor  of  St.  John’s  church,  Worcester.  The  sermon  was  preached  by  the 
famous  Jesuit,  Father  Bapst. 

Rev.  R.  J.  Patterson,  now  the  venerable  pastor  of  the  parish,  was  then 
promoted  by  Bishop  Williams.  He  came  from  Pittsfield,  October  25th,  1868, 
and  with  characteristic  zeal  began  at  once  the  erection  of  a larger  church  on 
Pleasant  street.  This  he  had  completed  in  the  summer  of  1869,  and  on  Novem- 
ber 21st  of  the  same  year  the  people  occupied  it  for  the  first  time.  The 
church  was  a frame  structure  76  x 64  feet,  and  could  seat  nine  hundred  peo- 
ple. It  cost  $15,000. 

The  town  of  Lancaster  at  that  time  was  an  important  mission  of  Clinton, 
and  soon  after  being  assigned  to  the  pastorate.  Father  Patterson  built  there  a 
neat  little  church  wherein  Mass  is  said  every  Sunday. 

Clinton  grew  rapidly  in  the  years  following  Father  Patterson’s  coming, 
and  the  parish  kept  pace  with  the  town.  The  pastor  soon  saw  that  a larger 
church  was  needed  for  the  people,  and  he  determined  to  build  a temple  worthy 
of  them  and  in  keeping  with  the  dignity  of  worship  due  to  God.  He  selected 
a lot  on  the  corner  of  School  and  Main  streets,  and  asked  for  the  services  of 


Rev.  a.  a.  LAMY. 


Rev.  G.  H.  DOLAN. 


Rev.  R.  J.  PATTERSON  (Deceased.) 


Rev.  P.  L.  QUAILLE, 


Rev.  J.  a.  CHARLAND. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


169 


architect  P.  W.  Ford  of  Boston.  Mr.  Ford’s  plans  were  accepted  as  soon 
as  made,  and  work  on  the  chnrch  was  commenced.  The  corner-stone 
was  laid  August  8th,  1875,  the  people  had  the  comfort  of  seeing  their 
old  curate,  then  Bishop  O’Reilly  of  Springfield,  preside  at  the  ceremony. 
Rev.  E.  H.  Walsh,  S.  J.,  of  Boston,  preached  the  sermon.  More  than  four 
thousand  people  are  said  to  have  been  present.  The  basement  was  com- 
pleted; then  all  labor  was  suspended  until  1880,  when,  with  renewed  ener- 
gies, the  work  of  superstructure  was  taken  np.  The  splendid  temple  was 
dedicated  to  God  under  the  patronage  of  St.John,  July  2d,  1886,  by  Bishop 
O’Reilly,  assisted  by  Very  Rev.  J.  J.  Power,  V.  G.,  of  Worcester,  Thomas 
Griffin  of  Worcester,  P.  J.  Garrigan  of  Fitchburg,  T.  J.  Conaty  of  Worcester, 
J.  Maher  of  Southbridge,  W.  J.  Coyne  of  Adams,  and  a large  body  of  neigh- 
boring priests.  The  dedicatory  sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  C.  A.  McKenna, 
O.  P. 

The  church  is  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  feet  in  length,  seventy-five  feet 
in  breadth  at  the  nave,  and,  in  the  transept,  widens  to  one  hundred  and  twelve 
feet.  From  floor  to  roof  it  rises  sixty-seven  feet,  and  from  sidewalk  to  top  of 
spire  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  It  will  seat  fifteen  hundred  people.  It  is 
of  Lancaster  brick,  with  cut  granite  trimmings,  and  is  Romanesque  in  style. 

Inside  it  is  elaborately  decorated,  and,  all  in  all,  may  easily  be  counted  in 
with  the  best  ten  churches  of  our  diocese. 

In  August,  1888,  a band  of  sisters  of  the  Presentation  Order  came  to 
Clinton.  In  the  following  fall  the  parochial  school  was  opened.  To-day 
three  hundred  and  fifty  children,  boys  and  girls,  receive  the  attention  of  the 
twelve  nuns,  under  the  direction  of  Sister  Mary  Angela  as  Superior.  The 
school  has  nine  grades.  The  old  church  serv’es  as  a school  building.  An 
addition  built  against  it,  in  1886  and  ’87,  serves  as  a convent  for  the  sisters. 
When  Father  Patterson  came  in  1868,  nearly  one  thousand  people  could  be 
found  within  the  limits  of  the  parish;  now  there  is  close  to  five  times  that 
number. 

The  first  five  decades  of  parish  life  shows  6214  baptisms,  1351  marriages, 
and  257  conversions  from  Protestantism;  “and  all  these  converts,’’  says  Fa- 
ther Patterson,  “have  kept  the  Catholic  faith.’’ 

The  parish  owns  St.  John’s  church,  school  and  convent,  the  presbytery, 
(the  old  Bigelow  mansion  standing  on  high,  spacious  grounds  ;)  Sylvan  Grove; 
the  old  church  lot ; the  church  in  Lancaster  with  two  acres  of  ground  sur- 
rounding, and  the  hundred  acres  lately  purchased  for  the  new  cemetery. 

The  old  cemetery  is  now  taken  up  by  the  Metropolitan  system  of  water 
works,  and  the  bodies  are  to  be  moved  into  the  new  cemetery.  Father  Pat- 
terson’s last  years  have  been  burdened,  and  the  bishop  disquieted  by  wearisome 
and  mischievous  contentions  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  Clinton  people  about 
control  of  the  cemeteries.  The  trouble  is  still  unsettled. 

The  Catholic  people  of  Clinton  generally  stand  well  in  the  community. 
They  are,  in  the  main,  mill  operatives,  though  among  the  leading  merchants 
one  will  find  many  of  our  people,  while  in  the  building  trades,  and  in  ordi- 
nary business,  they  may  be  counted  by  the  score.  They  are  in  all  the  liberal 


170 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


professions.  Judge  John  W.  Cochran,  who  has  been  twice  a candidate  for  the 
Lieutenant  Governorship  of  the  State  on  the  same  ticket  with  the  lamented 
William  E.  Russell,  and  who  is  known  throughout  the  Union  as  a man  of 
force  and  promise,  is  a member  of  this  parish.  ^ 

St.  John’s  parish  has  been  signally  productive  in  vocations  to  the  priest- 
hood, and  every  end  of  our  diocese  knows  the  labors  of  its  sons.  “ Our  peo- 
ple,” says  Father  Patterson,  “are  on  a social  equality  with  their  neighbors  ; 
they  have  a share  in  the  highest  political  offices,  and  have  recognized  influence 
for  the  good  of  the  town  life.” 

The  assistant  pastors  have  been  Revs.  M.  J.  Burke,  from  August,  1871, 
to  November,  1871;  M.  Carroll,  from  April,  1872,  to  July,  1872;  P.  F.  Cal- 
lery,  from  August,  1872,  to  May,  1877;  J.  J.  O’Keefe,  from  May,  1877,  to 
December,  1878;  C.  F.  Grace,  from  March,  1878,  to  February,  1880;  M.  J. 
Harty,  Jauuary,  1880,  to  December,  1881  ; J.  P.  Tuite,  January,  1882,  to 
December,  1885;  J.  H.  Gavin,  January,  1883,  to  February,  1888;  J.  J.  Gil- 
dea,  July,  1885,  to  December,  1889;  D.  B.  Kennedy,  February,  1888,  to 
December,  1890;  J.  J.  Mullen,  January,  1890,  to  September,  1891;  J.  M. 
Pendergast,  January,  1891,  to  November,  1894;  J.  J.  Nelligan,  September, 
1891,  to  November,  1894;  Denis  Mullins,  November,  1894,  to  July,  1896;  W. 
C.  McCaughan,  November,  1894,  and  still  here;  F.  J.  Reilly,  July,  1896,  to 
December,  1896;  W.  A.  Gillfillan,  January  19,  1897,  to  Jauuary,  1899;  and 
Edward  J.  Fitzgerald,  January,  1899,  and  yet  on  duty. 

Rev.  Richard  Patterson  was  born  in  Ireland,  May  14,  1835  ; he  came  to 
Boston  very  young,  and  there  fitted  for  college.  He  was  graduated  at  Holy 
Cross  college,  Worcester.  He  studied  theology  in  the  Grand  Seminary  at 
Montreal,  and  was  there  ordained  by  Bishop  Bourget,  December  22,  1866. 
He  was  curate  at  Pitt.sfield  when  called  to  Clinton.  His  life  has  been  labor- 
ious in  the  extreme ; he  has  always  been  deeply  concerned  for  the  good  of 
his  parish  and  the  happine.ss  of  his  people.  Now  as  he  nears  the  Scriptural 
limit  of  man’s  life,  he  can  look  about  with  complacency  upon  the  towers  of 
church,  and  school,  and  convent,  and  pre.sbytery,  and  mark  the  troops  of 
children  that  crowd  the  doorways  of  the  church  and  class-room,  and  feel  that 
his  days  have  been  fruitful  in  the  things  that  bring  good  to  men  and  glory 
to  God. 

The  vast  majority  of  the  Clinton  Catholics  are  of  Irish  blood,  though 
there  are  here  something  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  French  Canadians, 
some  Germans,  Poles,  and  within  two  years  a good  sprinkling  of  Italians. 

ST.  MATTHEW’S  CHURCH, 

CORDAVILLE. 

Mission — St.  Anne’s  Church,  Southboro. 

(5  I HE  first  Mass  said  in  Cordaville  was  said  at  Wilson’s  Hall,  which  could 
* I be  hired  for  the  purpose  only  on  condition  that  Philip  Harrington 
would  give  bond  preventing  damage  to  the  building.  This  Mass  was 
said  in  i860  by  Rev.  Patrick  Cuddihy.  He  said  Mass  at  intervals  thence- 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGFIELD. 


171 


forward  until  1864,  when  Father  Barry  came.  When  the  diocese  of  Spring- 
field  was  erected  in  1870,  Cordaville  was  transferred  from  Millford  to  West- 
boro,  and  Father  Richard  Donovan,  then  pastor  in  the  latter  place,  came  to 
the  people.  During  Father  Donovan’s  pastorate  in  1872  Mr.  Herbert  Wilson 
deeded  half  an  acre  of  land  to  the  Catholic  people  as  a church  site.  Two 
years  later  Father  Eagan,  the  successor  of  Father  Donovan  at  Westboro, 
began  excavations  for  the  church.  Father  Cornelius  Cronin,  who  came  in 
1877,  built  the  church.  He  died  on  the  22d  of  September,  1881,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Rev.  R.  S.  J.  Burke,  who  served  the  people  until  succeeded  by 
Father  McCoy  in  February,  1887.  Just  preceding  the  appointment  of  Father 
McCoy  to  Westboro,  Cordaville  was  made  a parish,  and  Rev.  Father  Redican, 
then  curate  of  Webster,  was  made  the  first  resident  pastor.  Father  Redican 
had  a very  cheerless  prospect  facing  him  when  he  came.  The  people  were 
few  and  scattered,  and  had  no  especial  parish  foundation  He  engaged  one- 
half  of  the  lower  floor  in  a tenement  house  close  to  the  church,  and  there 
lived  in  two  rooms,  experiencing  the  hardships  and  inconveniences  of  such 
accommodations  until  enabled  to  buy  from  Herbert  Wilson  the  present 
parochial  house,  which  had  been  formerly  the  home  of  Kate  Chase  Field. 
This  little  house  he  had  in  splendid  condition  in  a year.  It  is  airy  and  well- 
lighted,  and  to-day  makes  a very  comfortable  home  for  the  priest.  He  began 
to  bring  the  people  into  line,  and  soon  a new  religious  spirit  was  observable. 
Two  years  after  his  appointment  he  bought  a piece  of  land,  the  highest  point 
of  land  in  the  town  of  Southboro.  After  grading  it  becomingly,  he  built  the 
pretty  village  church  of  St.  Anne,  in  honor  of  the  patron  saint  of  his  mother. 
This  church  was  made  according  to  plans  by  P.  W.  Ford,  of  Boston.  It  was 
dedicated,  December  13th,  1887,  by  Bishop  O’Reilly.  The  celebrant  of  the 
Mass  was  Very  Rev.  J.  J.  Power,  of  Worcester,  and  the  dedicatory  sermon  was 
preached  by  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  J.  Conaty,  of  Worcester.  Two  years  after  this, 
regretted  by  all  the  people,  Protestant  as  well  as  Catholic,  Father  Redican, 
whose  good  work  had  earned  promotion,  was  transferred  to  Leicester,  and  Rev. 
Martin  Murphy,  now  pastor  of  Great  Barrington,  was  made  his  successor. 
Father  Murphy,  who  is  a man  of  extraordinary  zeal,  began  at  once  to  see  the 
people  individually.  He  paid  off  a considerable  part  of  the  parish  debt,  and 
left  a snug  sum  of  money  in  the  bank  when  promoted  one  year  later  to  Oxford. 
He  was  succeeded  at  once  by  Rev.  William  Finneran,  the  present  pastor. 

Since  the  founding  of  the  parish  to  January,  1898,  there  has  been  250 
baptisms,  75  marriages  and  2 conversions  to  the  faith.  Miss  Ruth  Burnett, 
now  a prominent  nun  of  the  Madams  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  and  whose  brother 
is  the  Episcopal  minister  at  Sorithboro,  came  to  the  church  during  the  pas- 
torate of  Father  Redican. 

St.  Matthew’s  parish  has  twenty-seven  resident  families;  St.  Anne’s,  the 
mission,  thirty-five,  a total  of  upwards  of  five  hundred  souls.  During  the 
last  year  or  two  there  has  been  a great  influx  of  Italians  and  other  laborers 
who  are  engaged  by  the  Metropolitan  Board  of  Water  Works,  and  these  make 
temporary  accession  to  the  church. 

The  people  of  Cordaville  are  an  industrious  and  hard-working  people  ; 


172 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGFIELD. 


the  majority  of  them  work  in  the  woolen  mills,  or  upon  the  farms.  In  South- 
boro  the  people  work  on  the  several  stock  farms,  and  in  the  many  residences 
of  the  rich  people  who  make  this  their  home.  They  are  intelligent  and 
thrifty  people,  and  many  of  them  own  their  own  homes. 

The  parish  owns  the  churches  in  Cordaville  and  Southboro,  a stable  in 
Cordaville,  and  a large  tract  of  land  surrounding  the  church  in  Southboro, 
and  the  horse  sheds  built  thereon  for  the  accommodation  of  the  farmers. 

Father  Finneran,  the  pastor,  was  born  in  Worcester,  and  passed  through 
the  schools  of  that  city.  He  then  entered  Holy  Cross  College  in  1878,  and 
was  graduated  therefrom  in  1881.  He  then  went  to  the  Grand  Seminary  of 
Montreal,  where  he  was  ordained  December  20,  1884.  Shortly  after  ordina- 
tion he  was  taken  dangerously  ill.  On  his  recovery  he  was  appointed  to  St. 
John’s  church,  Worcester,  where  he  served  until  his  appointment  to  Corda- 
ville. He  is  still  in  delicate  health. 

ST.  DENIS’  CHURCH, 

East  Douglas. 

Mission  : — St.  Anne’s  Church,  Manchaug. 

I HE  first  Mass  in  Manchaug  was  said  at  Christmas,  1857,  by  Father 
^ I Edward  Sheridan,  who  came  from  Uxbridge.  He  said  Mass  in  the 
“ old  ” tavern  or  the  Whitin  Tavern,  as  it  was  then  named.  Thence- 
forward he  said  Mass  until  1866,  in  the  home  of  Mr.  Eambert.  In  1867 
Father  O’Keefe  bought  from  the  Hunt  estate  a large  barn,  which  he  fitted  up 
for  a church,  and  this  has  served  the  people  from  then  until  now.  Father 
Denis  Moran  had  charge  of  the  mission  of  Douglas  from  1868  to  1870,  at 
which  time  Rev.  L.  G.  Gagnier,  who  more  than  any  other  man  has  been  active 
in  the  organizing  of  the  French  speaking  people  into  parishes  throughout  this 
diocese,  was  named  the  first  resident  pastor.  In  1873  he  was  replaced  by 
Father  Couillard,  who  remodeled  the  present  rectory,  purchased  a cemetery, 
and  also  bought  a large  piece  of  land  adjoining  both  church  and  rectory.  He 
died  after  a long  illness  in  November,  1878,  and  was  replaced  by  Rev.  A.  Del- 
phos,  now  pastor  at  Chicopee  Falls.  Father  Delphos  had  been  the  assistant 
at  East  Douglas  from  April  of  that  year.  He  remained  in  charge  of  East 
Douglas  and  Manchaug  until  April,  1893,  when  he  was  replaced  by  Rev. 
J.  F.  Galvin,  who  was  succeeded  close  to  five  years  afterwards  by  Rev.  J.  V. 
Campeau,  the  present  rector. 

The  curates  of  this  parish  have  been  Fathers  Delphos,  R.  L.  Rainville, 
Gravel,  Deslages,  DesRochers,  Legris  and  Marran. 

The  people  number  upwards  of  eight  hundred,  and  are  mostly  of  French 
Canadian  origin.  A little  more  than  one-fifth  are  of  Irish  blood. 

From  the  founding  of  the  parish  up  to  January,  1898,  there  have  been 
706  baptisms,  247  marriages.  No  special  record  has  been  kept  of  converts. 

The  property  belonging  to  the  parish  of  St.  Denis  embraces  seven  acres, 
and  is  close  to  the  centre  of  the  town.  The  church,  which  stands  directly 
opposite  the  rectory,  is  a frame  structure,  ninety  feet  by  forty. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


173 


The  people  of  the  parish  are  spoken  of  by  their  pastor  as  of  good  repu- 
tation. They  have  a fair  share  of  political  influence  and  of  office.  The  town 
treasurer  this  year  (1899)  is  a good  practical  Catholic.  The  people,  who  as  a 
rule  are  poor,  work  in  the  factories,  shops  and  farms.  A few,  however,  are 
prosperous  business  men. 

The  village  of  Manchaug  (town  of  Sutton),  has  a church  dedicated  to 
God  under  the  patronage  of  St.  Anne,  and  is  attended  from  East  Douglas. 
The  first  Mass  in  this  town  was  in  1859,  when  Rev.  Father  Noiseux  cele- 
brated the  holy  mysteries  in  a brick  house  belonging  to  the  INIumford  Manu- 
facturing Company.  Several  times  after  this.  Mass  was  offered  up  by  him  iu 
this  town.  After  him  came  Father  Meigneault,  who  on  different  occasions 
had  services  in  a barn,  the  only  building  in  the  town  large  enough  for  the 
one  hundred  and  twenty  Catholics  in  the  village.  This  bam  belonged  to  a 
Mr.  Adams.  Father  Sheridan  some  time  in  1864,  said  Mass  in  the  Baptist 
church.  By  this  act  considerable  feeling  was  stirred  up  amongst  the  mem- 
bers of  that  church  against  the  superintendent  of  the  Manchaug  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  who  had  granted  the  priest  this  unusual  privilege.  During 
the  pastorates  of  Fathers  O’ Keefe  and  Moran  Mass  was  said  in  the  home  of 
Joseph  Bellavance  on  the  “flat.”  They  had  a “station”  here  where  they 
heard  confessions  and  administered  the  other  sacraments  of  which  the  people 
stood  in  need.  Later  on  a small  chapel  was  built  and  a house  arranged  for 
the  accommodation  of  sick  people  who  could  not  go  to  services  at  East 
Douglas.  In  1883  Rev.  Father  Delphos  began  the  building  of  the  present 
church.  It  was  completed  and  dedicated  to  God  under  the  patronage  of  St. 
Anne  on  Thanksgiving  Day  the  next  year.  Rt.  Rev.  P.  T.  O’Reilly  per- 
formed the  ceremony,  while  Rev.  C.  Caisse,  now  pastor  of  Marlboro,  preached 
the  sermon.  This  church  is  built  of  wood.  It  is  beautifully  ornamented, 
has  a splendid  organ  and  bell,  and  has  in  its  possession  costly  vases  and  vest- 
ments. It  was  repaired  and  large  galleries  put  in  by  the  present  rector.  Rev. 
J.  V.  Campeau.  It  will  now  seat  more  than  seven  hundred.  Besides  the 
church  this  mission  owns  a parsonage  and  two  acres  of  land. 

The  people  of  this  parish,  though  numerous  and  of  fair  ability,  have 
small  political  influence,  though  this  year  several  have  places  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  town  affairs.  In  business,  however,  they  have  fair  representation. 
Therejare  some  merchants,  and  several  of  the  men  are  overseers  in  the  mills. 

Manchaug  enjoys  the  distinction  of  being  the  cradle  of  the  order  of  the 
Little  Franciscan  Sisters  who  have  the  care  of  aged  people  at  St.  Francis’ 
Home  on  Bleeker  street,  Worcester.  Father  Delphos  when  pastor  of  Douglas 
and  Manchaug  is  credited  with  great  labor,  and  this  praise  is  especially  deserv- 
ing for  the  care  he  extended  to  the  sick  of  the  community.  He  banded 
together  a body  of  pious  young  women  for  this  work  of  mercy,  the  first  of 
whom  was  Miss  Julia  Chapentier,  who  still  lives  at  Manchaug  close  to  the 
church  where|this  work  began.  The  organization  now  enjoys  the  approba- 
tion of  the  bishop,  and  is  doing  good  work  under  his  direction. 

The  census  of  Manchaug  this  year  shows  two  hundred  and  ninety-three 
families,  all  of  which,  save  one,  are  of  French  origin.  They  number  sixteen 


174 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


hundred  and  eleven  souls,  and  eleven  hundred  and  six  of  these  are  counted 
by  the  pastor  as  communicants. 

The  pastor,  Rev.  Father  John  V.  Campeau,  was  born  in  Canada,  January 
19,  1862.  He  entered  Montreal  College  ten  years  later  and  was  graduated  there- 
from in  1878.  He  began  the  study  of  philosophy  in  the  seminary  of  Montreal, 
then  taught  a year  at  Antigonish,  N.  S.  He  was  three  years  more  at  St. 
Mar>'’s  College  engaged  in  the  study  of  theology.  At  Notre  Dame  church  in 
Worcester  he  was  ordained  December  20,  1884.  He  served  as  curate  in 
this  church  until  October  ii,  1885,  when  he  was  made  pastor  of  Mittineague, 
where  he  remained  until  November,  1888.  He  was  made  pastor  of  West 
Boylston  then,  and  there  remained  until  February,  1898,  w’hen  he  was  sent  to 
East  Douglas  to  replace  Rev.  James  Galvin,  who  in  his  stead  went  to  West 
Boylston. 

CHURCH  OF  ST.  JAMES, 

Fisherville. 

Mission  : — Holy  Angels,  Upton. 

JN  1883  Rev.  Jas.  Boyle,  then  pastor  of  Grafton,  began  the  building  of  a 
church  in  Fisherville  on  land  which  had  been  donated  the  Catholics  by 
the  Fisher  Manufacturing  Company.  This  church  was  finished  and 
dedicated  under  the  patronage  of  St.  James,  at  New  Year’s,  1884.  Be- 
fore this  the  people  were  obliged  to  attend  Mass  at  Grafton.  In  1887  Fisher- 
ville was  set  apart  as  an  independent  parish,  with  Upton  as  a mission.  Rev. 
Michael  J.  Carroll  was  made  the  first  resident  pastor.  The  Fisher  Manufac- 
turing Company  has  proved  itself  very  friendly  to  the  Catholic  people  from 
the  first  until  to-day.  It  has  added  several  times  to  its  original  gift.  When 
Father  Carroll  came,  the  parish  had  but  the  church,  and  he  boarded  with 
respectable  people  named  Egan,  who  lived  near  the  railroad  station,  while  he 
prepared  for  the  building  of  the  presbytery.  The  land  adjoining  the  church 
was  the  proper  place  for  the  priest’s  house,  and  this  was  recognized  by  the 
Fisher  Manufacturing  Company,  and  again  the  priest  was  the  recipient  of 
their  kind  favor,  for  the  company  gave  him  the  land  for  his  house.  He 
had  the  house  built,  and  was  living  in  it  the  November  following.  Three 
years  ago  Father  Carroll,  at  a cost  of  $1,700,  placed  a beautiful  organ  in  the 
church.  This  church  is  a frame  building  with  brick  underpinning,  and  is 
built  on  Gothic  lines.  It  is  heated  by  steam  and  lighted  by  electricity.  In- 
side and  out  it  is  neat,  and  shows  constant  care.  The  altar  in  this  church 
now  used  by  Father  Carroll  was  the  original  altar  in  the  chapel  of  Holy  Cross 
college,  and  Father  Carroll,  who  is  a Holy  Cross  man,  gives  it  his  reverent 
care. 

The  mission,  Upton,  is  midway  betw'een  Fisherville  and  Milford,  and  the 
Catholics  of  this  town  were  accustomed  to  hear  Mass  in  Milford. 

Father  Cuddihy,  after  becoming  pastor  of  Milford,  came  once  a month 
to  Upton  and  said  Mass  in  the  homes  of  the  people,  and  when  the  Catholics 
became  too  numerous  for  any  private  house  he  engaged  the  Town  Hall. 

Rev.  Dr.  Barrett  became  the  pastor  of  Grafton  in  November,  1869,  and 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


175 


Upton  was  attached  as  a mission  to  the  new  parish.  Dr.  Barrett  soon  after 
purchased  the  old  Congregational  church  in  Upton,  remodeled  it  according 
to  Catholic  ideas,  and  blessed  it  under  the  name  of  the  church  of  the  Holy 
Angels.  When  Father  Boyle  became  pastor  of  Grafton  he  repaired  and  fres- 
coed this  church,  and  Father  Carroll  since  his  coming  has  put  in  a set  of 
beautiful  stained-glass  windows  and  several  pieces  of  statuary. 

The  parish  of  Fisherville  had  at  its  formation  something  more  than  i,ioo 
souls.  Three  hundred  and  fifteen  of  these  were  in  Upton,  and  800  in  Fisher- 
ville. The  people  of  Upton,  with  the  exception  of  two  families,  were  of 
Irish  blood,  while  in  Fisherville  there  were  187  people  of  Irish  lineage,  and 
the  remainder  were  French-Canadians,  or  their  children.  The  parish  has 
about  the  same  number  of  souls  now  as  it  had  then.  Four-fifths  of  the  people 
in  Fisherville  to-day  are  French-Canadians,  many  of  whom  are  not  practical 
Catholics.  These  people  in  the  first  years  of  Father  Carroll’s  pastorate  made 
several  attempts  at  forcing  the  appointment  of  a French  pastor,  though  Father 
Carroll  is  well  acquainted  with  the  French  tongue.  They  did  not  succeed  ; 
and  Father  Carroll’s  tact  and  firmness  has  forced  their  respect  and  obedience. 
The  other  one-fifth,  who  are  Irish,  are  fervent  adherents  to  their  faith. 

The  first  ten  years  of  parish  life  makes  record  of  361  baptisms  in  Fisher- 
ville, and  47  in  Upton;  99  marriages  in  Fisherville,  and  16  in  Upton.  There 
were  two  conversions  from  Protestantism.  The  parish  now  owns  church, 
presbytery  and  stable  in  Fisherville  (everything  in  excellent  condition),  and 
the  church  of  the  Holy  Angels  in  Upton.  In  September  of  the  present  year 
Rev.  J.  F.  McGrail  was  appointed  as  assistant  to  Father  Carroll. 

Father  Carroll  was  born  in  Milford,  1851  ; passed  through  the  grammar 
grades  and  the  high  school  of  that  town,  then  entered  Holy  Cross  college, 
from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1876.  After  the  regular  course  of  theology 
in  the  Grand  Seminary  of  Montreal,  he  was  there  ordained  in  December,  1879. 
Immediately  after  ordinationjie  was  made  assistant  to  Father  Barry  of  North- 
ampton, and  here  served  for  seven  busy  years.  He  was  at  Northampton 
when  called  to  the  pastorate  of  Fisherville.  Father  Carroll  is  a strong  man  of 
hardy  frame  and  buoyant  spirit,  and  a lover  of  the  open  air.  He  is  capable 
of  the  severest  ministerial  labors,  and  is  always  laboring  when  opportunity 
is  given  him.  He  comes  from  a family  of  builders,  and  has  since  boyhood 
observed  works  of  many  kinds.  He  is,  accordingly,  capable  in  the  manage- 
ment of  property  and  in  the  prudent  gathering  and  expending  of  parish  moneys. 

The  people  of  this  parish,  as  a rule,  work  in  the  mills,  but  there  are 
farmers  and  tradesmen  amongst  them.  They  have  small  political  influence. 
Socially,  they  are  on  a level  with  the  working  people  of  other  towns. 

CHURCHES  OF  ST.  PATRICK  AND  ST.  ANNE, 

Fiskdale. 

IN  1858  Fiskdale  had  one  hundred  and  ten  Catholics.  The  year  before 
there  were  twice  that  number  in  the  town,  but  that  year  was  the 
year  of  the  “panic,”  and  they  were  forced  to  leave.  Father  John  Krem- 
min,  of  Southbridge,  built  the  first  Catholic  church  here  in  1883  5 this 


17G 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


was  built  for  the  English-speaking  Catholics.  The  same  year  Father  Brochu 
erected  a little  frame  building  in  the  town  for  the  French-speaking  people. 
In  1887  Fiskdale  was  made  a parish,  and  Rev.  Jules  Graton  was  made  the 
first  pastor.  He  served  the  people  until  1890,  when  Rev.  Amable  L’Heureux 
came.  Hein  turn  served  until  1893.  He  was  succeeded  by  Father  A.  ]\L 
Clement,  the  present  pastor. 

There  were  at  the  beginning  sixty-five  families  of  Irish  origin,  and  one 
hundred  and  fifty  of  French-Canadian  ; now  there  are  twenty-five  families  of 
Irish  blood,  and  one  hundred  of  French-Canadian. 

The  parish  has  two  churches,  St.  Patrick’s  and  St.  Anne’s,  and  the  new 
rectory  built  last  year. 

The  people  are  of  the  laboring  class,  and  pastor  and  people,  both  Irish 
and  French,  have  always  worked  agreeably  togethei'. 

Father  A.  M.  Clement  was  born  at  St.  Justin’s,  P.  Q.,  October  18,  1863. 
He  made  his  classics  at  the  College  of  Nicolet,  and  was  ordained  ifi  the  Grand 
Seminary  of  Three  Rivers,  P.  Q.,  by  Bishop  Fe  Fleche.  He  was  a curate  in 
Mittineague  from  June  2,  1888,  to  November  2,  1888,  when  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  Holyoke,  where  he  was  still  laboring  when  made  pastor  of  Fisk- 
dale, August  24,  1893. 


ST.  BERNARD’S  CHURCH, 

Fitchburg. 

fRADITION  is  not  certain  when,  or  where,  or  by  whom,  the  first  Mass 
in  Fitchburg  was  said.  Some  have  it  that  Father  Gibson  officiated 
here  in  1845,  but  it  appears  more  likely  that  Father  Strain,  then  coming 
from  Waltham,  was  the  first  to  offer  up  the  sacrifice.  It  must  have  been  said 
in  the  neighborhood,  before  in  the  town,  because  the  priest  frequently  followed 
the  Irish  people  who  worked  upon  the  railroads.  In  the  spring  and  summer 
of  1844  the  Fitchburg  railroad  was  being  built  through  North  Feominster  and 
Fitchburg.  A man  who  worked  then  upon  the  railroad  has  always  claimed 
that  Mass  was  said  as  early  as  1844  in  a school  building  standing  at  the  corner 
of  the  road  leading  to  the  old  scythe  shop  in  South  Fitehburg,  but  who  the 
priest  was  he  has  never  been  able  to  recall.  There  is  small  doubt  that  this 
Mass  was  said  for  the  “ railroaders,”  for  Father  Gibson  was  afterwards  able  to 
write  on  the  occasion  of  the  dedication  of  the  church  in  1852  : “ In  the  year 
1845  there  were  two  Roman  Catholics  residing  in  Fitchburg.”  Tho.se  who 
were  here  the  year  before  must  have  gone  on  with  the  road,  and  the  new  peo- 
ple had  not  yet  come  in  ; for  we  know  that  in  May  of  that  same  year  there 
were  Catholics  enough  to  require  some  attention.  This  was  given  at  odd 
times  by  Father  Strain,  Father  Gibson  and  Father  Flood,  who  succeeded 
Father  Strain  in  Waltham.  Rev.  Patrick  Flood  is  said  to  have  visited  the 
parish  four  or  five  times  during  1846  and  1847.  In  November,  1846,  Mass 
was  said  in  the  house  occupied  by  Humphrey  Sullivan  on  “Piper’s  Patch,” 
near  the  iron  bridge  at  the  Fitchburg  depot,  where  it  crosses  the  road  to  West 
Fitchburg.  The  eelebrant  of  this  Mass  was  said  to  have  been  Rev.  Dr. 
Ambrose  Manahan,  who,  according  to  the  Catholic  almanac  of  1845,  was 


Rev.  J.  F.  McDERMO'l  T. 


Rev.  T.  S.  HANRAHAN. 


Rev.  D.  F.  FEEHAN,  P.R. 


Rev.  C.  TRIQUET. 


Rev.  E.  GRATON. 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGEIELD. 


ITT 


attached  to  the  Cathedral  of  the  Holy  Cross  at  Boston.  This  same  Catholic 
almanac  says  that  Rev.  P.  Flood  not  only  attended  St.  Mary’s,  Waltham,  but 
also  went  to  “Brighton,  Woburn,  Concord,  Fiichbtirg  and  other  missions.” 
Mass  was  reported  as  said  in  a barn  at  the  foot  of  Rollstone  Hill,  and  also  in 
a cabinetmaker’s  shop,  “near  a bridge  on  Washington  street,”  and  in  the 
home  of  Cornelius  Murphy,  near  the  cemetery.  Father  Flood’s  Masses  in 
June  and  July  in  1846,  were  said  in  the  house  of  Stephen  Markham.  Another 
tradition  is  that  Rev.  John  B.  Daly,  of  Vermont,  said  Mass  near  Wachuset 
Station  late  in  1845  and  early  in  1846. 

The  first  actual  attempt  at  church  building  was  made  by  Father  Gibson  of 
St.John’s,  Worcester,  who,  on  December  12,  1847,  called  together  the  people 
of  Fitchburg  and  told  them  that  henceforward  he  would  be  with  them  on  the 
second  Sunday  of  each  month.  There  were  in  Fitchburg  then  five  hundred 
Catholics,  who  came  for  the  building  of  the  railroads.  Mr.  John  T.  Cahill, 
who  was  a contractor,  owned  some  old  shanties  in  which  the  men  had  lived 
during  the  building  of  the  road.  These  shanties,  in  their  construction,  had 
taken  up  more  than  two  thousand  feet  of  lumber.  When  Father  Gibson  had 
succeeded  in  buying  a piece  of  land  from  Mr.  Alvah  Crocker  for  a church 
site,  February  15,  1848,  Mr.  Cahill  presented  the  shanties  to  the  Catholics, 
and  in  two  weeks  from  the  day  of  presentation  the  poor  Catholic  people  had 
a church  over  them,  and  on  the  12th  of  the  March  following,  had  the  happi- 
ness of  assisting  at  Mass  for  the  first  time  under  a roof  they  could  call  their 
own  in  Fitchburg.  Father  Gibson  pleasantly  says  it  was  called  the  “Shanty 
Cathedral.”  Their  happiness  was  all  the  deeper  on  account  of  the  difiiculties 
they  had  been  obliged  to  overcome.  There  was  a vast  deal  of  religious  big- 
otry shown  them.  An  ordinary  dwelling-house,  shop,  or  barn  had  served 
them  up  to  this.  “They  had  been,”  says  an  old  chronicler,  “refused  the  use 
of  either  hall,  meeting-house,  or  any  other  commodious  public  building,  nor 
could  they  hire  at  any  price  a place  large  enough  for  the  congregation.” 
This  first  little  chapel  was  in  size  thirty  by  twenty  feet.  At  the  first  Mass 
four  hundred  people  were  present.  That  afternoon  classes  in  catechism  were 
formed  and  teachers  appointed.  The  church  appointments  at  that  time  con- 
sisted of  a set  of  vestments.  There  was  neither  chalice  or  Mass-book.  The 
priest  had  to  bring  them  with  him  when  he  came. 

This  little  building  served  the  people  until  the  fall  of  1848.  Evidently 
Father  Gibson  intended  to  use  it  only  temporarily,  for  we  find  on  September 
30th,  that  “he  had  collected  some  hands,  and  commenced  the  digging  of  the 
foundation  of  St.  Bernard’s  church.”  This  St.  Bernard’s  church  he  had 
intended  to  build  in  granite,  but,  as  he  later  writes,  “money  gave  out,  so  we 
covered  the  basement  and  used  it  for  a church  and  a school ; afterwards  I 
built  a church  upon  it  of  wood,  I got  a first-rate  pipe-organ,  good  choir,  etc. 
I got  St.  Bernard’s  church  dedicated,  and  all  went  on  well.  I built  a house 
and  lived  there  half  of  my  time,  and  got  as  assistant  Father  Turpin.  I also 
bought  a graveyard  on  the  other  side  of  the  river.” 

The  corner-stone  of  this  new  church  was  laid  with  solemn  ceremony 
October  8,  1848.  It  was  blessed  by  Rev.  M.  W.  Gibson,  who  had  authority 
12 


ITS 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGFIELD. 


granted  him  for  this  occasion,  assisted  by  Rev.  Father  Le  Clerc,  a Canadian, 
and  Revs.  John  Boyce,  of  Worcester,  O’Brien  and  Williams,  of  Boston.  A 
choir  from  Boston  sang  one  of  Demonti’s  Masses.  On  this  occasion  the  ser- 
mon was  preached  by  Rev.  Nicholas  P.  O’Brien. 

The  wind  once  took  the  cover  from  this  basement,  and  there  was  the 
expense  of  putting  on  another.  The  basement  was  used  for  Catholic  services 
until  1852,  when  the  superstructure  was  built.  The  completed  church  was 
dedicated  September  18,  1852,  by  Rt.  Rev.  John  Bernard  Fitzpatrick,  bishop 
of  Boston.  The  Catholics  then  numbered  one  thousand.  That  day  fifty- 
three  people  were  confirmed  by  Bishop  Fitzpatrick  ; twenty-four  males  and 
twenty-nine  females. 

Father  Gibson  attended  to  the  Catholic  needs  of  F'itchburg  until  January, 
1856,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Edward  Turpin,  who  had  been  his 
assistant  since  April,  1855.  Rev.  Henry  Turpin  came  as  assistant  to  his 
Imother  in  February,  1857,  and  remained  until  June  that  same  year. 

Father  T.  A.  McAvoy  was  the  first  assistant  Father  Gibson  had  in  Wor- 
cester. The  records  say  that  he  was  there  in  1846.  He  labored  nearly  a year. 
He  was  old  when  he  came,  and  the  work  was  heavy,  therefore  his  days  amongst 
the  people  of  St.  John’s  were  not  many.  He  came  to  Fitchburg  where  he 
lived  out  his  life.  We  have  it  from  the  lips  of  the  priest'  who  attended  him 
when  dying,  that  Father  McAvoy  lived  into  his  one  hundred  and  eleventh 
year,  and  that  even  then  liis  mind  was  clear  and  his  senses  keen.  He  said 
Mass  regularly  until  within  five  years  of  his  death.  We  find  in  his  case  the 
remarkable  fact  of  a priest  who  had  been  saying  Mass  for  eighty  years  of  his 
life.  He  was  one  hundred  and  six  years  old  when  he  ascended  the  altar  steps 
for  the  last  time.  Though  not  able  to  do  much  work,  yet  his  presence  made 
it  possible  for  Father  Gibson  to  give  more  of  his  time  and  service  to  the 
missions. 

In  the  spring  of  1866,  Father  Turpin  withdrew  from  Fitchburg,  and  two 
years  later  we  read  of  him  in  North  Brookfield,  where  he  died  September 
5th,  that  same  year.  He  is  buried  beside  his  brother.  Father  Henry,  his 
father  and  mother,  in  the  Catholic  cemetery  in  Fitchburg. 

Father  Turpin  was  born  in  County  Clare,  Ireland,  in  1822.  His  father, 
who  was  an  alumnus  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  was  a man  of  scholarly  repu- 
tation. His  mother  was  an  English  convert.  He  studied  at  All  Hallows, 
and  after  ordination  in  Ireland  served  for  a while  on  the  English  missions 
before  coming  to  Fitchburg.  He  is  said  to  have  been  a very  learned  man. 

Rev.  Cornelius  M.  Foley  succeeded  Father  Turpin  in  July,  1866,  and  all 
alone  did  the  work  of  Fitchburg  and  the  surrounding  missions  till  July,  1870, 
when  Rev.  John  M.  Kremmin  was  sent  by  the  bishop  as  his  assistant. 

For  ten  years  the  Catholic  people  grew  rapidly  in  numbers  in  Fitchburg. 
The  old  church  could  not  afibrd  them  sufficient  accommodation.  The  peo- 
ple began  to  ask  for  a larger  church.  Father  Foley  was  in  greatest  sympathy 
with  the  people,  and  needed  only  their  encouraging  word.  In  1866  he  bought 


Rev.  C.  M.  Foley. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD, 


179 


of  Alvah  Crocker  the  land  on  Middle  street,  just  back  of  the  old  church. 
For  this  he  paid  ,^800.  At  the  same  time  he  bought  of  James  Rourke  the 
land  adjoining  for  $600,  and  of  William  Murnane  another  piece  for  which  he 
paid  $\6oo.  The  foundations  of  the  present  church  were  laid  at  once.  It 
measured  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  feet  in  length,  and  sixty-eight  feet  in 
width.  The  men  of  the  congregation  came  evenings  after  their  work,  and 
strong  arms  and  willing  hearts  soon  made  place  for  the  foundation  walls. 
The  corner-stone  was  laid  August  22d,  1869,  by  Bishop  Williams.  Rev. 
James  Fitton,  of  East  Boston,  preached  the  sermon.  The  superstructure  was 
up  and  the  basement  finished  for  services,  and  Mass  said  therein,  on  Christ- 
mas day  following. 

Rev.  Cornelius  M.  Foley  was  born  in  Macroom,  County  Cork,  Ireland. 
He  came  to  this  country  in  his  boyhood  ; studied  with  the  Sulpicians  at  Mon- 
treal, and  made  theology  at  St.  Mary’s,  in  Baltimore,  where  he  was  ordained 
in  1863.  He  was  for  three  months  “ locum  tenens  ” at  New  Bedford,  and  for 
three  years  curate  in  Taunton,  whence  he  came  to  the  pastorate  of  St.  Ber- 
nard’.s.  The  magnificent  church  of  St.  Bernard’s,  which,  even  to  this  day, 
when  such  splendid  temples  mark  every  end  of  the  diocese,  stands  as  one  of 
the  noblest,  was  built  in  the  time  of  Father  Foley.  When  he  came  to  Fitch- 
burg he  was  young,  and  strong,  and  enthusiastic.  He  bent  all  his  powers  to 
God’s  work.  His  success  is  evident  in  this  splendid  temple  which  stands  as 
his  monument.  While  building  the  church  Father  Foley’s  health  began  to 
fail.  The  labors  and  worry  consequent  upon  the  great  undertaking  taxed 
his  powers  beyond  their  bearing  force.  He  was  obliged  to  go  abroad  for  his 
health.  When  he  returned  he  was  no  longer  the  Father  Foley  the  people 
knew.  He  has  never  entirely  regained  his  strength,  and  most  of  his  years, 
since  then  until  now,  with  the  exception  of  short  periods  passed  in  small  pas- 
torates, have  been  spent  in  the  kindly  home  of  his  old  townsman  and  college 
mate.  Right  Rev.  Mgr.  Thomas  Griffin,  Rector  of  St.  John’s,  Worcester. 
The  gentleness  that  marked  Father  Foley’s  life  in  the  old  days,  and  brought 
the  people’s  love,  has  gone  with  him  everywhere  in  spite  of  his  sickness,  and 
yet  remains  about  him  as  a charm  which  still  draws  old  and  young  to  his 
knees  in  confession.  He  is  as  much  beloved  to-day  in  St.  John’s  as  he  was 
in  the  gladsome  time  of  his  vigorous  manhood  in  St.  Bernard’s. 

After  the  going  of  Father  Foley,  Rev.  David  Moyes  attended  to  the  in- 
terests of  the  parish  to  the  coming  of  Father  Garrigan.  He  came  in  Octo- 
ber, 1875. 

Rev.  Philip  J.  Garrigan  was  born  in  Ireland,  County  Cavan,  1840.  He 
came  to  Boston  in  1844,  whence,  after  a few  months,  the  family  moved  to 
Dowell.  He  passed  through  the  grammar  schools  of  that  city,  and  spent  two 
years  in  the  high  school.  He  worked  for  a few  years  after  this,  and  in  the 
September  of  1862,  entered  the  college  of  St.  Charles,  Maryland,  with  the 
intention  of  becoming  a priest.  In  1866  he  went  to  Troy  Seminary,  where  he 
was  ordained  in  the  June  of  1870.  He  was  at  once  appointed  to  St.  John’s 
church,  Worcester,  and  by  a pleasant  coincidence  came  there  the  day  that 
Father  O’Reilly  received  the  bulls  from  Rome  telliug  him  that  he  had 


180 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


been  named  by  the  Holy  Father  first  bishop  of  the  new  diocese  of  Springfield. 
Father  Garrigan  had  an  honorable  reputation  at  the  seminary,  and  when  a 
man  was  needed  to  preserve  the  proper  discipline,  he  was  recalled  as  director 
thereto  in  1873.  Two  years  later  he  was  offered  the  pastorate  of  St.  Bernard’s, 
Fitchburg,  and  he  came  in  the  October  of  that  year. 

When  the  Catholic  University  was  built  the  prelates  of  the  country 
called  thereto  the  eloquent  Bishop  Keane  of  Richmond  as  the  head.  It  is 
said  that  Bishop  Keane  asked  Father  Eliot,  the  famous  Paulist,  “ What  man 
in  the  North  do  you  consider  nearest  the  ideal  northern  priest — a man  clear- 
headed, strong-hearted,  zealous,  with  business  capacity,  and  ready  for  sacri- 
fice ? I am  of  the  South,  and  am  head  of  the  University,  and  I feel  the 
North  should  have  the  second  place.  Name  me  a man.”  “Father  Philip 
Garrigan  of  Fitchburg,”  said  Father  Eliot. 

Father  Garrigan  was  at  once  offered  the  vice-rectorship  of  the  University. 
This  was  in  the  mid-summer  of  1888.  That  fall,  after  due  deliberation,  he 
tendered  his  acceptance,  and  with  the  bishop’s  permission,  left  for  his  new 
field.  He  was  given  the  right,  however,  of  resuming  his  old  place  as  perma- 
nent rector  of  St.  Bernard’s  any  time  within  the  year.  He  is  still  at  the 
University,  and  to  day  is  known  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other. 
He  was  a man  of  great  influence  while  in  this  diocese,  whose  name  was  often 
on  the  lips  of  men  who  spoke  of  possible  bishops.  In  fact,  his  name  was  one 
of  the  three  sent  to  Rome  after  the  death  of  Bishop  O’Reilly.  He  is  a man 
of  unusual  ability  in  organization  and  management  of  parish  affairs.  He  is 
courteous,  sympathetic,  one  who  begets  love  and  keeps  it. 

Father  Garrigan  brought  to  the  parish  the  Sisters  of  the  Presentation  in 
September,  1886.  Something  over  350  children  came  to  the  opening; 
now  there  are  675.  This  was  not  the  first  parochial  school  there.  In 
1852  Father  Gibson  opened  a school  whose  teacher  was  Patrick  Nugent. 
After  Mr.  Nugent  came  Mr.  Twoomey,  of  Worcester.  Then  a Miss  McLane 
and  a Miss  Slater  had  the  school  until  the  coming  of  Father  Turpin.  Denis 
O’Keefe  then  taught  until  1857.  It  was  not  a success  thus  far.  In  1859  the 
school  was  re-opened  with  Miss  Mary  Ryan  as  teacher.  She  was  assisted  now 
and  then  by  Miss  Waters.  In  1862  this  school  also  was  closed,  confessedly  not 
a success.  Nothing  was  done  thenceforward  until  the  coming  of  the  Sisters  of 
the  Presentation,  in  1886.  Father  Garrigan  that  year  threw  down  the  old 
church,  which  up  to  that  time  had  served  him  as  a presbytery,  and  built  a 
new  three-story  structure  on  the  old  foundations.  Eight  excellent  schoolrooms 
were  opened  on  the  two  lower  floors.  The  upper  floor  he  modeled  into  a hall. 
This  building  is  now  the  school  for  boys.  He  built  a convent  for  the  sisters, 
at  the  east  corner  of  the  church  and  adjoining  it.  This.  Father  Feehan,  in 
1893  and  1894,  enlarged  to  nearly  four  times  its  original  size. 

It  is  now  the  mother  house  of  the  Sisters  of  the  Presentation  who  labor 
in  this  diocese.  Father  Feehan  later  bonght  land  adjoining,  whereon  he  has 
built  a fine  brick  school  for  girls,  the  lower  hall  of  which  he  has  fitted  as 
quarters  for  his  Temperance  Society. 

; At  Father  Garrigan’s  going  Rev.  Daniel  Feehan,  who,  with  the  excep- 


ST.  BERNARD’S  CHURCH, 
Fitchburg,  Mass. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


ISl 


tion  of  a short  time  spent  in  West  Boylston,  had  been  Father  Garrigan’s  as- 
sistant since  1879,  was  made  his  successor  in  the  permanent  rectorship  of  St. 
Bernard’s  Church. 

Father  Feehan  was  born'  in  Athol  in  September  of  1855.  His  parents 
moved  to  Millbury  during  his  boyhood,  and  here  he  passed  through  the  ordi- 
nary schools.  He  entered  St.  Mary’s  College,  Montreal,  and  was  graduated 
there  in  June,  1876.  He  studied  theology  at  Troy  Seminary,  where  he  was 
ordained  September  20,  1879.  On  the  17th  of  January,  the  year  following, 
he  came  to  Fitchburg.  In  October,  1886,  he  was  made  pastor  of  West  Boyl- 
ston, and  on  the  resignation  of  Rev.  P.  J.  Garrigan,  was  appointed  to  succeed 
him. 

Father  Feehan  is  the  youngest  of  the  permanent  rectors  of  our  diocese, 
and  is  universally  recognized  as  a clever  man.  He  is  strong,  ardent,  pious 
and  eloquent,  fond  of  work,  and  capable  of  doing  a large  amount  of  it,  a man, 
who  for  nigh  to  twenty  years  in  the  priesthood,  has  been  an  inspiration  for 
moral  effort,  temperance  and  education,  and  is  to-day  in  all  that  makes  up  a 
good  man’s  life,  a splendid  example  of  the  best  type  of  the  American  Catho- 
lic priest. 

The  Bishop  of  the  diocese  has  recognized  his  good  qualities,  and  has 
given  him  several  positions  of  trust  and  honor.  He  has  been  made  exam- 
iner of  the  clergy,  and  is  now,  by  the  vote  of  his  brother  priests,  and, 
with  the  Bishop’s  approval,  one  of  the  three  who  make  up  the  Bishop’s 
Coiiucil. 

The  records  of  the  parish  up  to  January,  1899,  show  7,285  baptisms; 
2,009  marriages.  St.  Bernard’s  has  within  its  lines  tipwards  of  6,000  souls. 

The  curates  of  this  parish  have  been  Rev.  Henry  Turpin,  from  February, 
1857,  to  June,  1857  ; Rev.  John  M.  Kremmin,  from  November,  1868,  to  July, 
1870;  Rev.  Bernard  McCollum,  from  September,  1870,  to  November,  1870  ; 
Rev.  Michael  J.  Goodwin,  from  November,  1870,  to  March,  1871  ; Rev. 
Daniel  Shiel,  from  March,  1871,  to  December,  1872  ; Rev.  Michael  Carroll, 
from  August,  1872,  to  April,  1874;  Rev.  David  Moyes,  from  April,  1874,  to 
January,  1876;  Rev.  Cornelius  J.  Cronin,  from  January,  1876,  to  January, 
1878;  Rev.  Joseph  McDonough,  from  January,  1878,  to  January,  1880;  Rev. 
John  J.  O’Keefe,  from  1879  to  January,  1880  ; Rev.  Daniel  F.  Feehan,  from 
January,  1880,  to  October,  1886,  and  administrator  to  October,  1888;  Rev. 
William  T.  Jennings,  from  May,  1882,  to  September,  1882;  Rev.  Thomas 
Tighe,  from  January,  1886,  to  January,  1887  ; Rev.  Peter  S.  O’Reilly,  from 
October,  1886,  to  June,  1889;  Rev.  Patrick  F.  Hafey,  from  February,  1887, 
to  April,'  1889,  and  Rev.  J.  McKechnie,  from  May,  1889,  to  March,  1893;  M. 
W.  Mulhane,  J.  W.  Dolan. 

The  people  of  St.  Bernard’s  parish  are  a specially  intelligent  and  reli- 
gious body.  They  have  the  good  will  of  all  their  neighbors.  They  are  sober 
and  ambitious.  Many  are  in  business  life  and  in  the  trades,  while  the  liberal 
professions  have  some  excellent  representatives  among  them.  Mr.  Thomas 
F.  Gallagher  is  the  judge  of  the  local  court.  ' 


182 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION  CHURCH  (CANADIAN), 

Fitchburg. 

IN  1885  the  French  people  of  Fitchburg  had  grown  so  numerous  that  Rev. 
Father  Garrigan,  who  was  then  pastor  of  St.  Bernard’s,  determined 
upon  a separate  service  for  them.  They  were  gathered  at  his  call  into 
the  basement  of  St.  Bernard’s  church,  and  Rev.  Daniel  Feehan,  then 
his  curate,  was  given  special  care  of  them.  He  said  the  first  Mass  for  these 
pieople,  as  a congregation,  in  the  basement  of  St.  Bernard’s  church,  February, 
1886.  He  continued  in  their  care  until  his  going  at  the  end  of  September 
that  same  year.  Early  in  October,  Rev.  Clovis  Beaudoin  was  named  their 
pastor.  In  the  December  after  his  arrival  the  bishop  authorized  him  to  buy 
a piece  of  land  on  Walnut  street,  at  the  cost  of  $9,000.  It  was  the  Albert 
Kenney  estate.  The  plot  measured  forty-seven  hundred  feet.  There  stood 
on  it  at  the  time  a house,  which  Father  Beaudoin  found  sufficiently  large  to 
make  into  a presbytery,  and  yet  leave  sufficient  for  a parish  school.  He 
immediately  opened  therein  a school  for  boys  and  girls  under  the  direction  of 
two  lay  teachers.  In  the  mid-summer  of  1887  he  built  upon  the  same  site  a 
frame  chapel,  and  said  the  first  Mass  therein  on  the  sixth  day  of  November 
that  same  year.  On  the  22nd  of  February  the  year  following,  this  chapel 
was  dedicated  to  God  under  the  titulary  of  the  Immaculate  Conception.  This 
chapel  cost  about  $10,000.  Father  Beaudoin  remained  as  pastor  close  to  four 
years,  and  was  succeeded  September  17,  1890,  by  Rev.  Jules  Graton.  He  in 
turn  was  succeeded  the  very  day  of  his  departure  by  his  brother,  Rev.  Edward 
Graton,  who  is  still  the  rector.  The  curates  of  his  parish  have  been  Rev. 
Joseph  Forest,  who  served  from  September  8,  1888,  to  July  6,  1890;  Rev.  J. 
A.  Lemieuse,  from  July  13,  1892,  to  December  22nd,  the  same  year;  Rev. 
J.  A.  Boutin,  from  the  23rd  of  March,  1893,  to  July  15th,  the  same  year; 
Rev.  L.  Geoffrey,  from  July  19,  1893,  to  October  15,  1897;  Rev.  J.  A.  Fre- 
dette,  who  came  at  New  Year’s,  1898,  and  is  still  on  duty. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  the  fourth  year  after  his  coming.  Father  Edward 
Graton  built  a basement  for  a new  church,  wherein  he  said  the  first  Mass  the 
16th  day  of  June  that  same  year.  Just  after  this  he  converted  the  chapel 
built  by  Father  Beaudoin  into  a parish  school,  which  he  opened  on  the  6th 
day  of  September,  that  same  year.  The  school  is  under  the  charge  of  sisters 
of  the  Holy  Cross  of  the  Seven  Dolors.  Sister  Mary  of  St.  Anne  is  the  local 
superior.  The  parish  schools  have  the  ordinary  grammar  and  high-school 
grades.  One  hundred  and  fifty  pupils  came  at  the  opening;  now  there  are 
two  hundred. 

For  the  first  ten  years  of  the  pari.sh  life  there  were  1,311  baptisms,  and 
271  marriages. 

The  parish  now  possesses  the  priest’s  hou.se,  the  school,  and  the  base- 
ment of  a new  church. 

The  pastor,  Fathei  Graton,  was  born  in  Canada,  December  1 2,  1 860.  He 
made  his  college  course  at  St.  Therese,  then  entered  the  Grand  Seminary  at 
Montreal  for  the  study  of  theology.  He  was  ordained  in  that  city  by  Arch- 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


18S 


bishop  Fabre,  April  9,  1887.  He  came  at  once  to  our  diocese  and  was  stationed 
at  Southbridge,  where  he  served  as  curate  from  1887  to  1891,  at  which  time 
the  bishop  promoted  him  to  the  pastorate  here.  Father  Graton  is  a large, 
calm  souled  man,  who  loves  peace  and  the  gentle  works  of  his  ministry.  He 
is  devoted  to  the  spiritual  care  of  his  people,  and  neglects  nothing  that  can 
make  for  their  good.  He  is  kindly  and  hospitable,  and  has  the  constant 
good  will  of  all  the  priests  who  neighbor  with  him. 

The  people  of  the  parish,  who  are  French-Canadians  or  their  children, 
number  twenty-nine  hundred  souls.  They  are,  as  a rule,  of  the  working 
class,  though  some  few,  as  is  the  case  most  everywhere,  are  in  busine.ss  and 
in  the  professions. 


ST.  J0SP:PH’S  church  (FRENCH), 

Fitchburg. 

(5  I HE  parish  of  St.  Joseph  is  an  off-shoot  of  the  Immaculate  Conception, 
^ I and  was  established  in  June,  1890.  Rev.  Joseph  Forest,  who  had  been 
assistant  at  the  church  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  was  made  the 
first  pastor.  In  the  old  Universalist  church,  at  the  corner  of  Main  and  Circle 
streets,  that  same  month,  he  said  the  first  Mass  for  the  new  congrega- 
tion. The  building  of  the  present  church  was  begun  in  the  fall  of  1890. 
Alex.  Lambert  and  Louis  Maiors  were  the  contractors  for  the  mason  work. 
The  foundations  were  laid  under  the  direction  of  the  first  pastor.  Father 
Forest ; but  when  he  was  removed,  in  the  December  of  that  same  year,  the 
work  was  at  a standstill  until  the  following  May.  January'  4,1891,  Rev.  C. 
H.  Jeannotte  succeeded  Father  Forest,  and  in  the  following  summer  gave  out 
a new  contract  for  the  superstructure  to  Urgel  Jacques,  of  Worcester.  The 
building  was  up  and  the  basement  completed  in  April,  1892,  and  on  the  17th 
•f  the’ same  month  (Easter  Sunday)  the  people  of  the  congregation  had  the 
happiness  of  hearing  the  first  Mass  in  the  new  church.  Father  Jeannotte 
said  this  Mass.  He  ministered  alone  to  the  people  until  September,  1892, 
when  Father  L.  G.  Grenier  was  appointed  his  assistant.  Father  Grenier  and 
Father  Jeannotte  together  did  the  work  of  the  parish  until  the  promotion  of 
Father  Jeannotte  to  North  Adams,  October  14,  1894.  After  the  going  of 
Father  Jeannotte  the  bishop  determined  to  bring  to  the  care  of  the  French 
people  of  this  parish  the  assistance  of  a religious  order,  and  accordingly  called 
to  the  diocese  the  Fathers  of  La  Sallette.  Four  came.  Father  Vignon,  Father 
Gerard,  Father  Triquet  and  Father  Deschaux.  Father  Vignon  was  the  supe- 
rior, and  therefore  rector  of  the  parish,  until  the  23d  of  May  the  year  follow- 
ing, when  Father  Triquet  succeeded  him,  assisted  by  Father  Gerard,  Father 
Deschaux  and  Father  Gobet. 

When  the  parish  was  formed  it  counted  within  its  lines  one  thousand 
French-Canadians  ; now  there  are  more  than  twenty-five  hundred  under  the 
care  of  the  French  fathers. 

In  the  first  eight  years  of  this  parish  life  there  were  814  baptisms,  193 
marriages,  and  4 conversions  from  Protestantism. 

The  parish  has  a brick  church,  a splendid  school,  also  of  brick,  which 


184 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


was  completed  and  dedicated  in  October,  1896  ; a presbytery,  and  a convent 
for  the  Sisters. 

When  the  parochial  school  was  formed  in  this  parish  it  had  one  hundred 
and  fifty  pupils  ; now  there  are  over  five  hundred.  The  school  is  under  the 
control  of  fourteen  Sisters  from  Paris,  France,  known  as  the  Faithful  Com- 
panions of  Jesus. 

CHURCH  OF  THE  SACRED  HEART, 

West  Fitchburg. 

G^s,TNTlL  1880  West  Fitchburg  belonged  to  the  mother  parish  of  St.  Ber- 
nard’s.  At  that  time  it  was  made  a separate  parish,  and  included 
within  its  lines  Rockville,  Crockerville  and  Wachusett  Station. 
In  1880  these  localities  had  so  grown,  and  the  distance  from  St. 
Bernard’s  was  so  great,  that  the  bishop  deemed  it  advisable  to  create  the  new 
parish.  Two  years  before,  with  a prevision  of  this.  Father  Garrigan  had 
bought  land  for  a church  site.  The  first  land  bought  proving  unsatisfactory, 
a second  lot  was  purchased  at  the  junction  of  Vernon  and  Burke  streets. 
This  land  he  bought  in  May,  1878.  Ground  was  broken  immediately  for  the 
foundations  of  the  new  church,  and  the  corner-stone  was  laid  July  21st  of  that 
same  year  by  Very  Rev.  John  J.  Power,  V.  G.,  of  Worcester.  Rev.  Thomas 
J.  Conaty,  of  Worcester,  preached  the  sermon.  Early  in  1879  the  church  was 
completed  and  ready  for  dedication.  Bishop  O’Reilly,  on  the  22d  day  of 
June  of  that  same  year,  dedicated  it  to  God,  under  the  name  of  the  Sacred 
Heart.  Rev.  C.  J.  Cronin,  of  Westboro,  celebrated  the  Mass,  while  Revs.  D. 
C.  Moran,  of  Winchendon,  and  John  J.  O’Keefe,  of  West  Springfield,  were 
the  deacons. 

In  June,  1879,  the  first  Mass  known  to  be  said  in  West  Fitchburg  was 
offered  up  in  the  uncompleted  church  of  the  Sacred  Heart  by  Rev.  P.  J.  Gar- 
rigan, pastor  of  St.  Bernard’s. 

When  the  parish  was  set  apart  in  1880,  Rev.  James  Canavan,  of  Milford, 
was  made  the  first  resident  pastor.  He  served  until  May  of  that  same  year, 
then  returned  to  his  old  curacy  at  Milford.  He  was  succeeded  immediately 
by  Rev\  James  Donohoe,  who  was  pastor  for  six  years.  During  Father 
Donohoe’s  pastorate  the  parochial  residence  was  built.  He  also  added  a 
tract  of  land  to  the  church  property.  At  his  promotion  to  Southbridge,  Rev. 
John  L.  Tarpey  came,  September,  1886.  He  died  in  1893.  During  his  pas- 
torate the  school  was  built  and  equipped,  and  the  church  and  presbytery  reno- 
vated. Father  Tarpey^ was  born  in  Andover,  INIass.,  May  31,  1849.  His 
family  came  to  Fitchburg  in  1851,  and  went  thence  to  New  Hampshire  four 
years  later.  He  completed  the  grammar  and  high  school  courses  at  Keene. 
The  family  returned  to  Fitchburg  in  1866,  and  he  began  to  prepare  for  college. 
He  entered  St.  Charles  College  in  1869,  and  thence  went  to  St.  Mary’s,  Balti- 
more, for  theology,  in  1874.  He  was  ordained  to  the  priesthood  December  21, 

1 878.  He  was  at  once  appointed  as  curate  to  St.  John’s  church,  Worcester, 
and  there  remained  until  June  10,  1885.  He  was  at  Millbury  for  a year, 
whence  he  came  to  replace  Father  Donohoe  at  West  Fitchburg.  He  was 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


185 


made  pastor  of  West  Fitchburg  on  the  first  day  of  September,  1886.  He  was 
a genial  man,  of  kindly  disposition,  and  of  good  capacity.  He  had  already 
done  considerable  work  in  West  Fitchburg  and  Ashburnham,  which  had  been 
made  a mission  of  West  Fitchburg,  when  his  health  began  to  fail.  He  died 
in  the  mid-summer  of  1893.  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Beaven  preached  the  funeral 
sermon,  and  gave  affectionate  expression  to  the  general  regard  in  which  he 
was  held. 

Rev.  James  Norris  in  the  same  month  succeeded  him.  He  was  a nephew 
of  the  old  vicar-general.  Rev.  Patrick  Healy.  Father  Norris,  who  was  a man 
of  snperior  talents  and  attainments,  died,  deeply  regretted  by  his  people, 
October  ii,  1896,  and  on  the  tenth  day  of  the  following  December  was  suc- 
ceeded by  the  present  pastor  of  the  parish.  Rev.  Thomas  S.  Hanrahan. 

About  800  people  were  in  the  parish  when  the  church  of  the  Sacred  Heart 
was  built.  There  are  now  1 500,  and  all  are  Irish  or  their  children. 

During  the  first  twenty  years  of  the  parish  life  there  were  831  baptisms, 
208  marriages,  and  6 conversions  from  Protestantism. 

The  parish  has  a church,  school,  and  three  tracts  of  land.  The  school 
for  boys  and  girls  is  in  charge  of  the  Presentation  Nuns.  One  hundred  and 
thirty  children  came  to  the  opening;  now  there  are  190.  The  school  has  the 
ordinary  nine  grammar  course. 

The  people  of  the  parish  are  hard-working  folk  and  stand  in  well  with 
their  neighbors.  They  control  the  affairs  of  this  end  of  the  city.  Some  few 
are  in  business  ; two  are  members  of  the  Common  Council,  and  all  are,  by 
the  statement  of  their  pastor,  “ of  the  strictest  integrity  and  an  excellent 
people.” 

Rev.  Thomas  S.  Hanrahan  was  born  in  Albany,  N.  Y.,  and  came  while 
a young  boy  to  Pittsfield,  in  1876.  He  made  his  classics  at  Allegheny,  New 
York,  in  Canada,  and  at  Baltimore,  Md.  He  was  ordained  a priest  in  the 
church  of  the  Holy  Name,  Chicopee,  in  1883.  Immediately  he  went  on  duty 
at  Greenfield  whence,  after  service  of  a number  of  years,  he  was  transferred 
to  St.  Paul’s  church,  Worcester,  where  he  was  on  duty  when  made  pastor  of 
West  Fitchburg,  in  the  fall  of  1896.  Father  Hanrahan  is  of  quiet  and  retiring 
manners,  a man  who  loves  music  and  the  things  of  art.  He  has  been  mark- 
edly successful  with  boys  and  young  men,  and  his  influence  has  been  always 
used  for  their  refinemeut.  He  is  a good  caretaker  of  his  parish. 

As  we  write  he  is  busy  in  the  building  of  a convent  for  the  Sisters  who 
teach  in  the  parish  school. 

CHURCH  OF  THE  SACRED  HEART, 

Gardner. 

(5  I HE  first  Catholic  known  to  reside  in  Gardner  was  Thomas  Carroll,  who 
^ I came  some  time  in  1845.  The  few  who  came  for  some  time  after  that 
were  obliged  to  go  either  to  Fitchburg  or  to  Otter  River  for  religious 
benefit.  This  continued  up  to  the  time  of  the  coming  of  Father  Edward 
Turpin  of  Fitchburg,  in  the  summer  of  1856.  lu  that  year  he  said  Mass  in 
Greenwood’s  Pine  Grove  off  Baker  Lane,  and  thenceforth  at  intervals  in  the 


186 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


homes  of  the  Catholic  people.  His  brother,  Father  Henry,  while  his  assist- 
ant at  Fitchburg,  also  came  at  intervals.  At  this  first  Mass  in  the  pine  grove, 
which  was  said  on  Sunday,  were  present  the  families  of  Thomas  and  Michael 
Carroll,  Peter  Carney,  Michael  and  Patrick  Goggin,  John  and  Michael  Mur- 
ray, Thomas,  John,  Patrick,  and  James  Lynch,  David  Joyce,  and  William 
Lane.  The  Catholics  then  numbered  about  one  hundred. 

In  1864  Gardner  was  made  a mission  of  Otter  River,  where  Rev.  James 
H.  Bannon  was  the  first  resident  pastor.  The  Sundays  that  Father  Bannon 
could  not  come  to  Gardner  the  Catholics  of  the  town  walked  in  a body  to 
Otter  River,  and  when  he  did  come  he  officiated  at  the  homes  of  Patrick 
Carney  and  Michael  Goggin,  and  when  these  became  too  small  for  the  grow- 
ing congregation,  in  the  town  hall.  After  the  promotion  of  Father  Bannon 
to  Blackstone,  Gardner  knew  the  services  of  Fathers  Orr,  Donovan,  Patrick 
McManus  and  Charles  McManus,  all  of  whom  offered  services  in  the  town 
hall  until  the  appointment  of  Rev.  Denis  C.  Moran  to  the  new  parish  of 
Winchendon  in  the  summer  of  1871.  Father  Moran  had  the  special  care  of  the 
place  until  1880.  In  1874  he  organized  a church  building  society,  and  soon 
had  sufficient  funds  on  hand  to  make  a beginning.  He  purchased  a lot  of  land 
on  Cross  street,  and  authorized  architect  James  Murphy  of  Providence  to 
submit  plans  for  a frame  church.  This  was  done,  and  the  architect  brought 
him  the  outlines  of  a graceful  frame  building  which  would  be  capable  of  seat- 
ing six  hundred  people,  and  which  would  co.st  in  construction  twenty-six 
thousand  dollars.  The  plans  were  accepted  and  ground  broken  for  the  foun- 
dation walls  in  1874.  One  year  from  that  time  the  church  was  completed 
and  dedicated  as  the  Church  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus. 

In  the  February  of  1880,  Gardner  was  made  a parish  of  itself,  and  in  that 
same  month  Rev.  Michael  J.  Murphy,  then  assistant  at  St.  John’s  church,  at 
Worcester,  became  first  resident  pastor.  Two  years  after  the  advent  of  Father 
Murphy  he  built  the  present  rectory  at  the  corner  of  Cross  and  Lincoln  streets. 
He  graded  the  grounds  between  the  church  and  the  house,  and  put  in  con- 
crete walks.  On  May  28th,  1887,  the  church  was  totally  destroyed  by  fire. 
On  the  15th  of  the  following  month.  Father  Murphy  was  succeeded  in  the 
pastorate  by  Rev.  J.  F.  McDermott,  the  present  pastor.  > 

Father  McDermott  was  born  in  Ireland,  September  loth,  1847.  He  came 
as  a child  to  this  country.  His  parents  settled  in  Worcester,  and  he  studied 
in  the  Worcester  schools.  His  classical  course  was  made  at  St.  Charles’, 
Maryland,  and  his  theological  studies  at  Baltimore,  where  he  was  ordained 
the  2 1st  day  of  September,  1878.  He  was  at  once  sent  as  curate  to  Pittsfield, 
and  there  remained  until  June  19,  1887,  when  he  was  called  to  the  present 
rectorship. 

Father  McDermott  found  a debt  of  eleven  thousand  dollars  on  the  parish 
when  he  came,  together  with  notes  amounting  to  twenty-five  hundred  dollars, 
and  another  debt  of  four  thousand  dollars  on  the  rectory.  Father  Murphy  had 
been  prudent  enough  to  properly  insure  the  church,  and  the  money  accruing 
to  the  parish  from  this  insurance  paid  off  the  church  mortgage  in  full,  and 
left  fifty-five  hundred  dollars  for  the  payment  of  all  other  obligations.  Father 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


1S7 


McDermott  was,  therefore,  enabled  to  see  his  way  to  the  erection  of  a new 
church,  and  in  the  beginning  of  the  following  November,  having  made  thirty 
two  hundred  dollars  in  a fair,  he  and  his  people  were  encouraged  to  proceed 
immediately  with  the  new  building.  He  engaged  architects  Earl  and  Fisher 
of  Worcester  to  make  plans  for  him.  They  submitted  plans  for  a beautiful 
frame  church,  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  by  fifty-four  feet.  It  was  to  be  in 
Gothic  style,  and  rest  on  a basement  of  brick.  He  began  the  building  at 
once.  The  basement  of  the  new  church  was  completed  and  ready  for  services 
for  the  New  Year  of  1888.  It  was  built  on  the  site  of  the  old  church,  though 
in  outline  it  is  somewhat  larger.  The  superstructure  was  finished  in  1893, 
and  on  September  loth  of  that  year  the  dedication  took  place.  Bishop  Bea- 
ven  performed  this  function  and  preached  the  dedicatory  sermon.  Rev.  Wil- 
liam J.  Goggin  of  Millbury,  a classmate  of  Father  McDermott,  sang  the  Mass. 
The  new  church  cost  twenty-six  thousand  one  hundred  and  sixteen  dollars. 
During  the  interval  between  the  burning  of  the  old  church  and  the  building 
©f  the  new.  Mass  was  said  in  Miller’s  Opera  House. 

During  the  year  of  the  building  of  the  church  Father  McDermott  bought 
a lot  of  land,  eighty-four  by  one  hundred  and  forty  feet,  at  a cost  of  one 
thousand  dollars.  This  land  is  situated  just  west  of  the  church.  In  1895  he 
added  to  the  parochial  estate  a quarter  of  an  acre  more  at  a cost  of  five  hun- 
dred dollars.  For  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  he  purchased  fifteen  acres  of 
land  adjoining  the  old  cemetery.  This  he  added  to  the  cemetery,  and  at  a 
cost  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  more  erected  a windmill,  which  furnishes 
an  abundance  of  water  for  the  proper  care  of  the  gra.sses  and  shrubbery  of  the 
cemetery. 

From  the  beginning  of  this  parish  until  January,  1898,  there  has  been 
537  baptisms,  139  marriages,  and  6 conversions  from  Protestantism.  Speak- 
ing of  these  conversions  Father  McDermott  says  ; “Except  two,  all  were 
poor  specimens,  and  gradually  fell  away  from  the  practice  of  their  new  faith.” 

The  curates  have  been  Rev.  B.  S.  Conaty  for  five  months ; Rev.  John  F. 
Lee,  one  year ; and  Revs.  P.  P.  McKeon,  William  H.  Hart,  M.  P.  Courtney, 
and  T.  P.  McDonnell.  The  latter  served  about  six  months. 

When  Father  Murphy  was  made  pastor  there  were  fifteen  hundred  people 
of  Irish  lineage  and  four  hundred  Canadians  in  the  town  of  Gardner.  Now 
the  parish  has  within  its  lines  eighteen  hundred  people  of  Irish  blood.  The 
parish  controls  church,  presbyter}^  stable,  .several  lots  of  land,  and  a spacious 
cemetery. 

“The  people  of  the  parish,”  Father  McDermott  writes,  “are  the  equal 
of  any  Catholic  community,  and  are  well  represented  in  the  business  enter- 
prises of  the  place.  Socially  they  stand  well,  and  there  is  the  best  of  feeling 
between  them  and  their  fellow  citizens.  Politically  they  wield  but  a very 
moderate  influence.’’ 

Father  McDermott,  the  pastor,  is  a quiet  and  laborious  man,  very  much 
of  a home  body  who  loves  his  work  and  his  people.  He  is  kind  and  sympa- 
thetic. He  is  patriotic,  too,  and  like  most  of  his  blood  has  great  sympathy 
for  things  Irish.  This  feeling  in  his  younger  days  was  given  practical 


1H8 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


expression  by  a journey  to  Canada,  in  company  with  two  others  who  are  now 
priests  of  the  diocese,  as  a volunteer  with  the  invading  Fenians  who  were  up 
in  arms  against  the  queen’s  forces. 

CHURCH  OF  OUR  LADY  OF  THE  ROSARY  (CANADIAN). 

W.  Gardner. 

WHEN  Gardner  was  made  a parish  there  were  but  few  French  Cana- 
dians within  the  town’s  lines ; but  during  Father  Murphy’s  stay 
they  became  numeroiis,  and  in  1884,  when  they  numbered  eight 
hundred,  were  given  authority  by  the  bishop  to  organize  a parish  by  them- 
selves. An  aged  priest  from  the  college  of  St.  Hyacinthe,  P.  Q.,  who 
had  been  assistant  to  Rev.  Joseph  Brouillet  of  Worchester,  came  to  their 
charge.  He  said  the  first  Mass  for  this  congregation  on  the  second  Sunday 
of  November,  1884.  There  were  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  persons 
present.  Shortly  after  coming  he  purchased  ninety  thousand  feet  of  land 
fronting  on  Nicholas  street  and  passing  through  to  Regan  street.  This  cost 
but  little.  He  next  secured  a small  piece  adjoining  it,  on  which  he  erected 
a temporary  building.  This  was  a sort  of  “combination”  building,  and 
for  several  years  served  as  church,  school  and  presbytery.  It  was  a frame 
structure,  and  put  up  as  cheaply  as  safety  would  warrant.  This  priest,  Father 
Soli,  served  the  people  from  November,  1884,  to  December,  1886.  He  was 
old  when  he  came,  and  being  delicate,  was  obliged  to  relinquish  the  heavy 
labor,  and  Rev.  C.  E.  Bruneault,  now  pastor  at  Holyoke,  was  sent  in  his  stead. 

Father  Soli  has  always  been  looked  upon  as  a saintly,  zealous  priest, 
and  his  going  was  regretted  by  the  people  of  the  town,  irrespective  of  race  or 
religion. 

Father  Bruneault  bore  the  brunt  of  the  labors  until  promoted  to  Holy- 
oke in  the  May  of  1890,  when  Rev.  A.  L.  Desaulniers  came  to  the  parish.  In 
the  fall  of  1891  Father  Desaulniers,  who  was  delicate,  returned  to  Canada 
and  died.  He  was  succeeded  in  September  that  same  year  by  Rev.  A.  E.  Lange- 
vin,  who  is  still  pastor. 

The  curates  of  this  parish  were  Rev.  L.  D.  Grenier,  from  August,  1891, 
to  September,  1892  ; Rev.  L-  Z.  Huot,  from  August,  1893,  to  August,  1895  ; 
Father  L.  E Barry,  who  came  in  the  fall  of  1894  and  is  still  in  service. 

From  November,  1884,  to  January,  1898,  there  were  1,450  baptisms  and 
222  marriages. 

In  the  four  years  of  Father  Bruneault’s  pastorate  he  materially  reduced 
the  debt,  and  laid  out  four  rooms  in  the  frame  building,  built  by  Father  Soli, 
for  school  purposes,  and  opened  therein  a parochial  school  with  an  attendance 
of  two  hundred  pupils. 

On  May  17,  1892,  a fire  broke  out  in  that  part  of  Father  Soli’s  great 
building  which  had  served  as  the  rectory.  The  fire  destroyed  three  thousand 
dollars  worth  of  property.  Father  Langevin  immediately  rebuilt  and  enlarged 
the  building  so  as  to  increase  the  capacity  of  the  school.  He  next  purchased 
for  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  the  property  on  Nichols  street,  nearly  opposite 
the  church,  at  au  expense  of  one  thousand  dollars.  This  he  made  into  a use- 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


189 


fill  presbytery.  Here  the  priest  lived  for  three  years.  But  in  November, 
1894,  Father  Langevin  found  it  possible  to  buy  a property  adjoining  the  origi- 
nal purchase,  whereon  he  built  the  present  rectory.  He  then  sought  plans 
from  architect  La  Pointe,  of  Fitchburg,  for  a new  church.  He  filled  up  the 
great  ravine  which  separated  the  property  from  Nichols  street  at  a cost  of 
seven  thousand  dollars,  and  began  in  1895  the  construction  of  the  Church  of 
the  Holy  Rosary,  which  is  in  brick.  This  church  is  not  yet  completed.  It 
will  seat  when  completed  one  thousand,  and  will  have  a side  chapel  capable 
of  caring  for  one  hundred  more. 

The  parish  controls  a school,  a presbytery,  a house,  and  a church  nearly 
finished  ; also  spacious  grounds  sufficient  for  all  parochial  needs  of  the  future. 
At  the  present  writing  the  schools  are  not  in  session. 

The  people  of  this  parish  are  of  the  laboring  class,  who  find  employment 
in  the  chair  shops,  in  the  building  trades,  or  in  the  ordinary  employments. 
They  are  as  a class  uneducated  and  poor.  They  number  about  twenty-one 
hundred  souls,  but  only  a small  proportion  of  them  exercise  citizens’  rights, 
or  enjoy  citizens’  privileges. 

Father  Alfred  B,  Langevin  was  born  in  St.  Pie,  Bagot  County,  P.  Q.,  on 
the  1st  day  of  April,  in  the  year  1859.  He  followed  the  regular  classical 
course  in  the  College  of  St.  Hyacinthe,  then  studied  theology  in  the  Grand 
Seminary  of  St.  Sulpice  in  Montreal.  There  he  received  from  Archbishop 
Fabre  all  his  sacred  orders  except  the  priesthood,  which  was  conferred  by  the 
Rt.  Rev.  Louis  de  Goesbriand  in  the  city  of  St.  Albans,  Vt.,  the  22d  day  of 
June,  1884.  He  was  the  day  of  his  ordination  appointed  pastor  of  Enosburg 
Falls,  Vt.,  with  Montgomery  and  Richford  as  missions.  In  January,  1886, 
he  was  transferred  to  the  parish  of  Orwell  and  Shoreham,  which  he  left  in 
September  of  the  same  year  because  of  poor  health.  In  March,  1888,  he  was 
appointed  assistant  pastor  at  Uxbridge  this  diocese.  In  May  of  the  following 
year  he  was  transferred  to  Chicopee,  Church  of  the  Holy  Name.  September 
I,  1891,  he  was  sent  to  Williamstown  to  found  a parish  for  the  Canadians 
Here  he  remained  three  weeks,  when  he  was  promoted  on  the  23d  day  of 
September  to  the  parish  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Rosary  in  West  Gardner. 


ST.  ALOYSIUS’  CHURCH, 

Gilbertville. 

Mission  : — St.  Augustine’s,  Wheelwright. 

(5  I HE  first  Mass  within  the  lines  of  the  Gilbertville  parish  was  said  in 
^ I Hardwick,  then  the  most  important  end  of  the  township,  by  Rev. 
Patrick  Healy,  pastor  of  Ware,  some  time  in  the  year  1867.  It  was 
said  in  the  farmhouse  owned  by  Mr.  Patrick  Shugrue.  There  were  then  a 
dozen  Catholic  families  in  the  town. 

The  building  of  the  pre.sent  church  of  St.  Aloysius  was  commenced  on 
the  8th  day  of  April,  1872,  by  Rev.  G.  L-  Gagnier,  who  was  then  the  Cana- 
dian pastor  of  Ware,  of  which  Gilbertville  formed  a mission.  It  is  related  by 
the  old  people  that  Father  Gagnier,  stripped  of  his  coat,  delved  with  his  people 


190 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


in  the  excavations.  They  came  evenings  after  their  day’s  labor  was  done,  and 
worked  as  long  as  they  could  see.  Father  Gagnier  encouraged  and  inspired 
them  by  word  and  example.  He  was  his  own  architect,  too,  and  the  church, 
though  plain  and  unpretentious,  served  the  purposes  of  the  people.  The 
corner-stone  was  laid  May  28,  1872,  and  on  November  17th  of  the  same  year 
the  Very  Rev.  Patrick  Healy,  V.  G.,  and  then  administrator  of  the  diocese, 
dedicated  it  to  the  service  of  God  under  the  patronage  of  St.  Aloysius. 

Before  the  coming  to  Gilbertville  of  Father  Gagnier  the  place  had  known 
the  pastoral  services  of  Father  Healy,  the  pastor  of  Ware,  and  of  Father 
Moran,  who  succeeded  him  there. 

F'ather  Gagnier  attended  the  people  for  iipwards  of  three  years,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Rev.  Father  Boucher,  who  served  in  turn  until  the  appointment 
of  Rev.  T.  J.  Sheehan  as  pastor  of  Ware  in  1880.  Father  Sheehan  had  the 
care  of  the  people  for  fourteen  years,  and  during  this  time  remodeled  the 
church,  built  a parochial  school,  brought  in  the  Sisters  of  St.  Anne,  and  fairly 
won  his  way  into  the  deep  affections  of  the  people. 

When  Gilbertville  was  made  a parish  by  itself,  February  25,  1894,  Father 
William  F.  Grace  was  appointed  the  first  resident  pastor. 

Father  Gagnier  took  the  census  of  the  place  in  July,  1871,  and  he  found 
149  families,  68  of  whom  were  French-Canadian,  and  81  of  Irish  lineage. 
The  whole  number  of  souls  was  827,  among  whom  were  526  communicants. 
In  May,  1895,  Father  Grace  found  within  the  parish  limits  1250  souls;  619 
were  Irish,  535  French,  and  100  Polish.  In  the  first  three  years  of  Father 
Grace’s  pastorate  there  were  152  baptisms,  38  marriages,  and  two  conversions 
from  Protestantism. 

The  relations  between  priests  and  people  in  this  parish  have  always  been 
singularly  happy.  When  the  home  parish  of  Ware  knew  troublous  times 
during  the  pastorates  of  Fathers  Boucher  and  Sheehan,  both  priests  found 
encouragement  and  consolation  from  the  people  of  Gilbertville. 

Gilbertville  has  a church,  parochial  school  and  a presbytery,  the  latter 
built  during  the  pastorate  of  Father  Grace,  and  all  the  property  is  in  good 
condition.  The  schools  are  taught  by  the  Sisters  of  St.  Anne.  In  the 
beginning  there  were  100  children  in  the  school,  which  then  had  seven 
grades.  Now  there  are  185  children,  and  nine  grades  complete  the  grammar 
course. 

Wheelwright,  the  mission  of  Gilbertville,  is  about  five  miles  away  from 
Gilbertville,  and  when  the  latter  was  made  a parish  the  Wheelwright  people 
petitioned  for  a Mass  every  Sunday.  It  was  granted,  and  Mass  was  said  regu- 
larly in  a hall  of  the  village.  When  the  people  had  gathered  a thousand 
dollars  for  the  purpose  of  building  a chapel.  Father  Grace  broke  ground  for 
the  same  October  10,  1894.  This  chapel  was  dedicated  July  7,  1895,  by  Rt. 
Rev.  T.  D.  Beaven,  of  Springfield.  Rev.  James  Hurley  preached  the  dedi- 
catory sermon. 

The  people  of  this  parish  are  principally  mill-hands  and  farmers.  They 
are  on  the  average,  Father  Grace  writes,  “ industrious,  honest  and  God-fearing 
people.”  Their  political  influence  is  not  as  great  as  their  position  would  seem 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


191 


to  warrant,  for  many  of  them  are  not  yet  voters  ; but  under  the  advice  of  their 
pastor,  they  begin  to  seek  citizenship. 

Father  Grace  is  a scholarly  and  fervent  priest,  capable  in  a high  degree 
of  study,  labor  and  sacrifice.  He  has  an  attractive  and  winning  personality, 
and  everywhere  commands  respectful  and  kindly  regard  from  priests  and 
people,  in  and  out  of  his  own  community. 

ST.  PHILIP’S  CHURCH, 

Grafton. 

IN  the  history  of  the  church  in  Worcester  County,  Father  Fitton  speaks  of 
service  being  held  at  Westboro,  Grafton  and  Millbury,  which  he  calls 
the  “ next  principal  stations,  some  time  near  to  1834.”  “ There  were,” 

he  states,  “ no  resident  members  of  the  church,  save  those  employed  as  farmers 
or  brogau  makers,  to  whom,  for  the  pegging  of  five  pairs,  which  was  con- 
sidered a day’s  work,  one  dollar  was  paid.” 

After  1834  the  people  received  somewhat  closer  attention  from  Father 
Fitton,  who  was  then  stationed  permanently  at  Christ’s  church,  Worcester. 
Father  Williamson  succeeded  him  in  this  pastorate  in  1843,  the  Grafton 
people  knew  his  administrations  as  did  also  those  on  the  other  missions,  till 
the  coming  of  Father  M.  Gibson,  in  1845.  1848  Mr.  Benchly,  of  Grafton, 

presented  the  people  a plot  of  land  for  a church,  and  in  that  same  year  Father 
Gibson  began  the  erection  of  St.  Philip’s.  His  plan  called  for  a structure 
forty  feet  by  twenty-five.  Rev.  Zephenes  L’Eveque  was  made  pastor  of  Mill- 
bury, October,  1851,  and  Graftoir  knew  his  care  thenceforward  to  September, 
1854.  At  that  time  Rev.  E.  J.  Sheridan,  of  Uxbridge,  was  ordered  by  the 
Bishop  to  look  after  the  interests  of  Millbury,  and  consequently  of  Grafton. 
November  25,  1858,  Millbury  and  Grafton  were  assumed  as  missions  by  Father 
John  Power,  of  Worcester,  now  the  vicar-general  of  the  diocese.  He  built  a 
transept  and  lengthened  out  St.  Philip’s  church,  thus  increasing  the  seating 
capacity  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  growing  congregation.  This  work  was 
done  in  the  mid-summer  of  1866.  July  i,  1869,  Rev.  M.  J.  Dougherty  was 
made  pastor  of  Millbury,  and  Grafton  was  given  to  his  care  thenceforward. 
During  his  pastorate  the  people  had  services  in  St.  Philip’s  church  every 
Sunday.  Grafton  remained  Father  Dougherty’s  mission  but  four  months,  for 
in  November,  1869,  it  was  made  a parish  by  itself,  with  Upton  as  its  mission, 
and  Rev.  Dr.  A.  M.  Baret  was  made  the  first  resident  pastor.  Father  Baret 
was  a very  learned  man,  and  is  said  to  have  been  of  noble  lineage  in  his  own 
country,  France.  The  people  of  his  parish  and  the  priests  of  the  diocese 
mourned  his  death,  which  occurred  in  the  early  summer  of  1881.  June  15th 
of  that  same  year  Rev.  James  Boyle,  now  pastor  of  Ware,  was  appointed  in  his 
stead.  Father  Boyle,  shortly  after  his  coming,  built  the  present  presbytery 
and  made  almost  new  again  the  old  church  of  St.  Philip.  He  bought  a lot 
of  land  in  North  Grafton,  which  had  become  a mission  of  the  home  parish, 
and  began  there  the  building  of  St.  Mary’s  church.  He  finished  the  base- 
ment, which  is  in  brick,  roofed  it,  and  herein,  until  November  29,  1896,  the 
people  had  all  religious  services.  This  building  was  on  the  main  road  from 


192 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Westboro,  and  on  the  slope  of  a gentle  hill.  It  was  low  and  wide,  with  dark- 
colored  brick  and  darkened  roof.  Because  of  the  priest’s  character  as  a sol- 
dier, the  people  facetiously  called  it  “ Fort  Boyle/’  When  Father  Boyle 
was  promoted  to  Ware  Rev.  John  R.  Mnrphy  came  in  his  stead,  February  7, 
1887.  The  first  work  Father  IMnrphy  did  was  to  care  for  the  parish  cemetery', 
which  had  been  purchased  years  before  by'  Father  Power  when  in  charge  of 
Grafton.  He  made  walks  through  it,  cut  away  the  brush,  trimmed  the  lots, 
erected  a central  cross,  and  beautified  and  made  sightly  the  resting-place  of 
his  dead.  Next  he  put  into  St.  Philip’s  church  stained-glass  windows.  His 
most  serious  work  began  in  1895,  when  he  took  up  earnestly  the  com- 
pletion of  St.  Mary’s  church  in  North  Grafton.  Father  Boyle’s  plans  did 
not  commend  themselves  to  Father  Murphy’s  judgment,  for  the  place  had 
grown,  and  other  reasons  obtained  that  were  not  in  Father  Boyle’s  mind 
when  the  plans  originated.  Father  Murphy,  therefore,  asked  for  new  plans, 
and  engaged  for  this  work  architect  James  Murphy,  of  Providence,  who 
brought  him  the  sketch  of  a building  in  Romanesque  style,  with  cruciform 
outlines,  and  which  at  once  pleased  Father  Mnrphy.  The  church  was  built 
that  same  year  (1896),  and  was  dedicated  Sunday,  November  29th,  by 
Rt.  Rev.  Thomas  D.  Beaven,  Bishop  of  Springfield.  The  Solemn  High 
Mass  was  celebrated  by  Rev.  P.  J.  Harkins,  of  Holyoke,  in  the  presence  of 
the  bishop,  assisted  by  Rev.  J.  T.  Canavan,  of  Milford,  and  Rev.  George  Fitz- 
gerald, of  Haydenville.  Rev.  James  F.  Galvin,  of  East  Douglas,  was  master 
of  ceremonies.  Rev.  J.  J.  McCoy,  of  Chicopee,  preached  the  sermon.  There 
were  present  at  the  ceremonies  Very  Rev.  J.  J.  Power,  V.  G.,  Rt.  Rev.  Mgr. 
Griffin,  Fathers  Lehy,  S.  J.,  and  Mullaley,  S.  J.,  of  Holy  Cross  College, 
Fathers  Cuddihy  and  Canavan,  of  Milford,  Fathers  Harkins,  of  Holyoke, 
O’Neil,  McGillicudy,  Brosnahan,  McKechnie  and  Sullivan,  of  Worcester, 
Delany,  of  Natick,  Galvin,  of  East  Douglas,  Carroll,  of  Fisherville,  Goggin,  of 
Millbury,  Colbert,  of  Hopkinton,  O’Reilly,  of  Whitin.sville,  Lee,  of  Jefferson, 
Dwyer,  of  East  Longmeadow,  Redican,  of  Leicester,  Finneran,  of  Cordaville, 
McGann,  of  Westboro,  Achim,  of  Northboro,  and  Powers,  of  East  Cambridge. 
At  the  vesper  service  Bishop  Beaven  confirmed  one  hundred  and  twenty  chil- 
dren of  the  parish.  The  bishop  was  attended  by  Fathers  Harkins  and  McCoy. 
The  celebrant  was  Rev.  M.  J.  Carroll,  of  Fisherville,  the  deacon.  Rev.  W.  H. 
Goggin,  of  Millbury,  and  the  sub-deacon.  Rev.  A.  J.  Dwyer,  of  East  Long- 
meadow. 

The  builder  of  the  church  was  Mr.  Fullerton,  of  Providence,  while  the 
frescoing  and  decoration  was  done  by  Andrew  Blair,  of  Holyoke.  The  church 
which  cost  $20,000  is  very  neat,  commodious  and  lightsome,  and  for  a village 
church  unusually  beautiful. 

Father  Murphy,  the  pastor,  was  born  in  Worcester,  October  9,  1849.  He 
studied  in  the  public  schools  of  Holden,  and  also  in  Holy  Cross  college  from 
which  he  was  graduated  in  1876.  He  made  a regular  course  of  theology  in 
the  Grand  seminary  of  Montreal,  where  he  was  ordained  in  December,  1879. 
Pie  remained  as  curate  with  Father  Cuddihy  at  Milford  for  a year  and  a half, 
going  thence  to  Father  Harkins  at  Holyoke,  with  <vhom  he  served  until  made 


■DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGFIELD. 


193 


pastor  of  Grafton.  Father  Murphy  is  a keen,  sharp  business  man,  more  the 
traditional  Yankee  in  his  dealings  than  his  name  would  seem  to  warrant. 
He  has  managed  his  parish  with  marked  success,  and  has  given  attention 
to  everything  needed  within  its  lines.  He  is  a cheerful  and  friendly  man, 
though  never  slow  to  relieve  his  miud  at  an  unfairness  or  what  appears  to 
him  a wrong.  He  is  a very  good  speaker,  and  at  times  eloquent.  He  has 
an  unique  boldness  and  candor  of  expression  that  makes  many  of  his  sayings 
worthy  of  repetition  in  the  pleasant  stories  told  by  his  fellows  in  the  priest- 
hood. Father  Murphy’s  heart  is  as  true  as  steel,  and  the  man  does  not  live 
who  can  point  out  iu  him  a meanness  or  a voluntary  unkindness.  That  he 
is  capable  of  great  heroism  was  proved  at  the  time  of  the  small-pox  epidemic 
while  he  was  a curate  at  Holyoke.  The  plague  broke  out  in  St.  Jerome’s 
parish,  and  the  people  died  by  scores.  Unassisted  by  any  other  clergyman, 
he,  day  and  night,  and  every  hour  of  the  day  and  night,  attended  to  the  people 
at  imminent  personal  risk.  It  is  said  that  he  never  undressed  or  enjoyed  one 
night’s  unbroken  sleep  during  the  mouth  that  the  plague  raged.  He  holds 
the  hearts  of  the  Holyoke  people  in  his  hand  even  to  this  day. 

Since  the  formation  of  the  parish  there  have  been  492  baptisms  and  350 
marriages.  The  first  child  baptized  in  Grafton  was  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
Patrick  White,  and  Mary  Cusick.  She  was  baptized  July  17,  1869. 

The  people  of  this  parish  are  a thrifty,  law-abiding  body',  who  earn  their 
livelihood  in  the  shops  or  on  the  farms.  They  number  978,  — 525  are  of  Irish 
and  453  of  French-Cauadian  origin.  They  are  well  represented  in  business, 
and  exercise  a fair  amount  of  political  influence.  The  relations  between 
Catholics  and  Protestants  have  always  been  pleasant. 

The  parish  has  church,  presbytery  and  stable,  with  a large  plot  of  land 
intervening ; there  are  also  three  or  more  acres  of  land  opposite  the  church, 
whereon  the  pastor  intends  some  time  to  build  parochial  schools.  The  parish 
also  owns  a cemetery,  and  in  North  Grafton  a church,  and  a large  plot  of 
land.  Rev.  Edward  Schoffield,  Fathers  O’Hara,  P.  S.  O’Reilly  and  Anthony 
Dwyer  have  been  curates  at  St.  Philip’s. 


ST.  MARY’S  CHURCH, 

Holden  (Jefferson)  and  Rutland. 

EFORE  1850  the  Catholic  people  of  Holden  walked  to  Worcester  for 
Mass.  This  was  not  only  true  of  Holden,  but  of  Clinton  and  the 
surrounding  towns.  But  in  1850  the  Catholics  asked  Bishop  Fitz- 
patrick for  spiritual  attendance,  and  he  sent  them  Rev.  M.  W.  Gib- 
son, then  associate  pastor  of  Worcester.  He  said  his  first  Mass  in  the  town 
of  Holden  in  the  house  of  Michael  McLoughlin.  Mr.  James  Prendergast, 
now  the  proprietor  of  the  Mt.  Pleasant  House,  was  one  of  those  present  at 
this  first  Mass,  as  was  also  Joseph  Guiotte. 

Thenceforward,  during  the  whole  of  his  pastorate  at  Worcester,  Father 
Gibson  came  at  stated  intervals  to  the  people,  as  did  also  his  associate  and 
successor.  Rev.  John  Boyce.  Father  Boyce  procured  a hall  in  Eagleville  for 
religious  purposes  when  the  people  grew  too  numerous  for  any  private  home. 

13 


194 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


When  Father  Boyce  died  in  1864,  Rev.  P.  T.  O’Reilly,  his  successor  in  the 
pastorate  of  St.  John’s,  had  care  of  the  Holden  mission.  He  confided  the 
whole  care  of  the  place  in  1867  to  his  assistant,  Rev.  Thomas  Griffin.  Father 
Griffin,  free  to  act,  immediately  purchased  three  acres  of  land  in  Holden 
Centre,  and  began  the  building  of  a church  and  the  proper  arrangement  of  a 
Catholic  cemetery.  He  had  the  church  completed  and  dedicated  August  i6, 
1868.  It  was  60  by  30  feet,  and  cost  $3,500.  The  Bishop  of  Boston  for  the 
ceremony  of  the  dedication  delegated  Rev.  Patrick  T.  O’Reilly,  the  pastor  of 
St.  John’s.  For  the  subsequent  three  years  the  Holden  church  was  attended 
from  St.John’s  in  Worcester;  but  in  1871  it  became  attached  as  a mission  to 
We.st  Boylston,  where  the  Rev.  Anthony  P.  Derbuel  was  pastor. 

The  parish  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  was  fonned  in  Worcester  in 
1874,  and  Holden  again  reverted  as  a mission  to  Worcester,  this  time  to  the 
new  parish.  For  fourteen  years  Father  Robert  Walsh,  pastor  of  the  Immacu- 
late Conception,  kept  the  charge  of  the  church.  In  1884  the  parish  of  Holden 
was  set  aside,  and  Rev.  James  McCluskey  was  appointed  as  first  resident  pastor. 
It  had  within  its  limits  then  the  villages  of  Holden,  Jefferson,  Quinapoxit 
Dawson  and  North  Woods,  also  Rutland  and  Princeton.  Father  McCluskey 
remained  two  years,  and  during  that  time  purchased  the  residence  adjoining 
the  church  for  a presbytery.  The  church  itself  he  repaired  and  frescoed. 
He  was  succeeded  in  1886  by  Rev.  Thomas  F.  Joyce.  Father  Joyce  died  in 
1888.  He  had  been  exposed  during  a long,  cold  drive  in  answer  to  a sick 
call  from  Rutland,  and  on  his  return  was  taken  with  a chill,  which  resulted 
in  a sudden  death.  Father  Joyce  was  deeply  beloved  by  the  Holden  people, 
and  to  this  day  they  speak  of  him  with  tenderest  affection.  His  successor 
was  Rev.  John  D.  McGann,  then  of  Blackstone.  Father  McGann  soon  after 
his  coming  recognized  that  the  church  was  not  centrally  located  for  the 
convenience  of  his  people;  he,  therefore,  purchased  for  $5,000  a property  in 
Jefferson,  close  to  the  railway  station.  This  property  had  on  it  an  excellent 
residence.  This  is  now  the  presbytery.  He  spent  $2,000  in  the  remodeling 
of  the  house  and  in  grading  of  the  estate.  Ground  was  broken  on  the  5th 
day  of  April,  1890,  for  the  erection  of  a new  church.  The  building  was  com- 
pleted in  June,  1891.  It  was  dedicated  on  the  28th  day  of  June  of  that  year, 
by  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  O’Reilly,  under  the  patronage  of  St.  Mary’.  Very  Rev. 
John  J.  Power,  V.  G.,  of  Worcester,  preached  the  sermon. 

The  church  cost  about  $16,000.  It  is  built  after  plans  designed 
by  Stephen  C.  Earle,  of  Worcester.  It  is  108  feet  long  and  55  feet  wide, 
and  from  sidewalk  to  tower  is  70  feet  high.  It  is  built  in  Romanesque 
style. 

Ill  the  autumn  of  1894  Father  McGann  was  transferred  to  the  pastorate 
of  We.stboro,  and  was  then  succeeded  by  the  present  pastor.  Rev.  John  F. 
Lee.  Father  Lee  found  the  church  property  in  good  condition,  and  speaks 
of  it  as  a “ monument  to  the  fidelity  and  zeal  of  Father  McGann  and  his 
generous  parishioners.” 

The  people  of  this  parish  numbered  thirty  at  the  first  Mass.  They  were 
of  Irish  and  French  blood.  There  are  now  780  of  them,  and  they  appear  tp 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGE! ELD. 


195 


be  equally  divided  still  between  the  Irish  and  French,  “ half  and  half”  as  the 
pastor  says. 

Father  Lee,  the  pastor,  was  born  in  Lowell,  Mass.,  May  2d,  1853.  He 
passed  through  the  grammar  and  high  schools  of  his  native  city,  then  studied 
classics  at  St.  Charles’,  Maryland,  and  at  Nicolet,  Canada.  Theology  he 
read  at  the  Grand  Seminary  of  Montreal,  where  he  was  ordained  in  the  De- 
cember of  1877.  He  was  with  Father  Cnddihy  for  a year  and  a half  as  curate 
at  Milford,  and  then  assistant  for  four  years  more  to  Father  Beaven  in  Spencer. 
He  was  at  Gardner  when  made  the  first  pastor  of  Shelburne  Falls.  After  two 
years  of  service  there,  he  was  appointed  pa.stor  of  Monson,  where  he  was  on 
duty  when  called  to  Holden  in  1894.  Father  Lee  since  coming  to  Holden 
has  made  a special  effort  in  the  interests  of  the  young  men  of  his  parish,  and 
for  some  time  has  been  busy  in  the  collection  of  funds  for  the  building  of  a 
hall  for  their  benefit. 

Father  Lee  is  a rollicking,  jolly,  kindly  man,  with  an  excellent  voice, 
which  he  uses  with  considerable  skill  to  the  great  delight  of  his  brother 
priests  in  times  of  innocent  recreation.  He  is  young  and  strong,  and  has 
within  him  the  possibilities  of  great  good  work  in  the  future. 

Rutland,  the  mission  of  Holden,  has  a little  church  which  was  originally 
the  old  Congregational  meeting-hon.se  in  the  town  for  the  Protestants.  It 
was  bought  in  the  May  following  Father  Walsh’s  appointment,  and  fitted  up 
for  Catholic  worship.  When  blessed  it  was  given  the  name  of  St.  Patrick’s 
church. 

The  people  of  these  towns  work  in  the  shops,  in  the  trades,  or  are  in 
the  ordinary  business  callings.  A large  number,  however,  are  farmers,  .some 
are  hotel-keepers,  and  several  of  them  are  men  of  wealth  and  position. 

ST.  JOSEPH’S  CHURCH, 

Leicester. 

fHPl  earliest  Catholic  settlers  at  Leicester  were  Germans  and  Irish  who 
came  thereto  in  the  period  between  1836  and  1845.  Father  Gibson  in 
his  statistics  of  the  Worcester  missions  attended  by  him  in  1846  says 
that  Leicester  had  “ forty  Catholics — fanners.”  In  1845  there  were  said  to  be 
seventeen  Catholics.  The  first  Mass  known  to  be  said  in  the  town  was  said  by 
Rev.  Father  Gibson  at  the  home  of  Patrick  Hayden  on  Water  street,  January 
12,  1846.  There  were  thirty  people  present,  many  of  whom  came  there 
from  Spencer,  Rutland,  Charlton  and  the  towns  about.  Mass  was  celebrated 
by  Father  Gibson  thereafter  at  regular  intervals.  Previous  to  the  erection 
of  the  first  church  Mass  was  said  at  the  home  of  Patrick  Daly  in  Cherry  Val- 
ley. Father  Gibson  was  the  celebrant  and  was  accompanied  by  Father  Wil- 
liams, now  the  venerable  archbi.shop  of  Boston.  The  Masses  offered  dnrirrg 
the  time  of  Father  Gibson,  and  even  during  the  time  of  Father  Migneanlt, 
who  began  to  come  after  his  appointment  as  pastor  of  Webster,  were  said  in 
a large  house  on  the  north  road,  now  the  central  factory,  occupied  by  Mrs. 
Charles  Rogers,  or  at  the  house  of  Patrick  Geoghan.  In  1851  the  Catholics 
were  enabled  through  the  kind  offices  of  Captain  Gleason  to  secure  the  town 


196 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


hall  for  religious  services,  and  Mass  was  said  herein  once  a month  by  the 
fathers  of  Holy  Cross  College.  Whenever  they  were  unable  to  come  the  people 
walked  to  Worcester  to  old  St.  John’s.  The  labors  of  the  journey  or  the  in- 
clemency of  the  weather  never  deterred  them  from  this.  A Congregational 
minister  of  the  town  at  this  time,  1852,  Rev.  John  Nelson,  observed  this  trait 
in  the  Catholic  people,  and  so  deeply  touched  was  he,  that  he  became 
friendly  with  them  and  heartily  encouraged  them  to  erect  a church  of  their 
own.  This  good  man  died  full  of  years  and  honors,  deeply  beloved  by  his 
Catholic  neighbors  as  well  as  his  own,  in  1871.  Moved  by  his  example  other 
Protestant  men  of  the  period  took  kindly  interest  in  the  Catholics.  We 
think  deserving  of  mention  for  their  liberality  are  Joseph  A.  Denny,  Edward 
Sargent,  and  Rev.  Samuel  May.  These  people  gave  kindly  advice  and  ma- 
terial assistance  to  their  Catholic  neighbors.  At  a meeting  of  the  Catholic 
people  at  this  time  Messrs.  Martin  Callahan,  John  Keenan,  James  Daly,  James 
Smith  and  Timothy  Cummings  were  appointed  to  gather  funds  for  the  church. 
The  first  donation  received  was  fifty  dollars  in  addition  to  the  gift  of  half  an 
acre  of  land  from  Michael  Craft.  A frame  building  capable  of  seating  three 
hundred  people  was  built  in  1854  on  the  Craft  lot  half  way  between  the  cen- 
tre village  and  Cherry  Valley,  a mile  from  either  place.  Henry  Murray,  of 
Worcester,  brother  of  John  Murray,  who  for  many  years  was  sexton  of  St. 
John’s  parish,  built  the  church.  The  timber  he  used  in  its  construction  was 
taken  from  the  old  church  at  Grafton.  John  Jennings  was  the  first  sexton. 
The  church  was  named  in  honor  of  St.  Polycarp,  and  the  first  Mass  said 
within  it  was  on  New  Year’s  day,  1855,  when  Father  Peter  Kroes,  S J., 
gathered  the  people  about  the  altar.  In  1869  this  church  had  become  much 
too  small  for  the  rapidly  growing  congregation,  therefore  it  was  taken  down, 
and  from  the  timbers  is  built  the  church  of  St.  Aloysius  in  Rochdale.  The 
corner-stone  of  the  present  brick  church  of  St.  Joseph  was  laid  on  the  site  of 
the  old  church,  September  ist,  1867,  by  Rev.  Robert  W.  Brady,  S.J.,  then  pre- 
sident of  Holy  Cross  College.  The  church  was  dedicated  January  2d,  two 
years,  later  by  Right  Rev.  John  J.  Williams,  Bishop  of  Boston.  The  three 
churches,  that  of  Leicester  and  Rochdale,  were  attended  from  Holy  Cross 
College  from  January,  1854,  to  August,  1873,  by  Rev.  Peter  Kroes,  S.  J.,  Rev. 
J.  C.  Moore,  S.J.,  Rev.  P.  M.  Janelick,  S.  J.,  Rev.  Eugene  Vetromile,  S.  J., 
Rev.  J.  B.  O’ Hagan,  S.  J.,  Rev.  W.  F.  Hamilton,  S.  J.,  and  Rev.  Peter  Blen- 
kinsop,  S.  J. 

Father  David  F.  McGrath  was  made  first  resident  pastor,  August  ist, 
1880.  When  Father  McGrath  came  to  the  parish  he  found  a debt  of  sixty- 
five  hundred  dollars.  He  began  at  once  to  remodel  the  whole  church  pro- 
perty. He  built  a new  parsonage  and  consummated  the  purchase  of  eighteen 
acres  of  land.  These  improvements  cost  fourteen  thousand  and  five  hundred 
dollars.  February  ist,  1888,  every  penny  of  this  debt  was  paid,  and  when 
Rev.  Dr.  Beaven,  pastor  of  the  church  of  the  Holy  Rosary  at  Holyoke,  was 
made  bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Springfield,  Father  McGrath  was  promoted  to 
his  place,  October  17th,  1892.  Father  McGrath’s  work  in  Leicester  was 
remarkable.  He  left  the  place  nearly  perfect  in  every  detail.  All  the  work 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


197 


that  was  done  by  him  was  done  in  the  same  spirit  of  completeness  which  has 
since  marked  his  labors  at  Holyoke.  He  was  succeeded  at  once  by  the  pre- 
sent pastor,  Rev.  John  F.  Redican,  who  then  was  the  rector  at  Cordaville. 

The  parish  of  St.  Joseph  includes  the  centre  village  and  Cherry  Valley, 
and  stretches  from  the  limits  of  Spencer  to  the  Worcester  line.  There  are 
about  fifteen  hundred  souls  within  its  confines. 

The  parochial  estate  covers  twenty  acres,  thirteen  of  which  is  a magnifi- 
cent grove  of  oak  and  other  hard  woods,  wherein  the  summer  gatherings  of 
the  parish  are  held.  The  frontage  of  the  parish  property  is  eleven  hundred 
and  fifty  feet. 

June  13th  of  the  present  year  the  new  cemetery  and  a magnificent  Celtic 
cross,  gifts  from  Mrs.  John  E.  Russell  to  St.  Joseph’s  parish,  were  dedicated 
by  Bishop  Beaven.  The  day  was  a holiday  in  Leicester.  Every  place  of 
business  was  closed  in  honor  of  the  dedication.  The  committee  in  charge  of 
the  demonstration  of  the  day  were,  G.  J.  McDermott,  William  A.  Bell,  P.  A. 
Butler,  James  Quinn,  J.  P.  Lee,  Peter  Rice,  M.  J.  Rice,  Dennis  O’Connell,  J. 
L.  Gallagher,  M.  L.  Hurley,  James  Rice,  and  Patrick  Hanley.  A great  body 
of  clergymen  were  present  from  Worcester  and  the  surrounding  towns,  who 
went  in  processions  from  the  church  to  the  cemetery.  Father  Redican  headed 
the  procession  followed  by  one  hundred  and  eight  boys  and  eighty-four  girls 
of  the  Sunday-school,  with  the  altar  boys  and  priests  following.  Rev.  James 
J.  Howard  of  Worcester  preached  the'sermon.  The  cross  is  made  of  Milford 
granite  after  plans  by  George  H.  Crossman  of  Worcester.  Mrs.  John  E.  Rus- 
sell, whose  gift  it  is,  is  not  a Catholic,  but  her  life-long  has  been  friendly  to 
Catholic  people,  and  has  loved  Catholic  services. 

St.  Joseph’s  church  is  in  brick  and  measures  one  hundred  and  eight  feet 
in  length,  and  fifty  in  width.  It  seats  seven  hundred  and  fifty.  The  church 
stands  near  the  old  turnpike  road,  and  may  be  seen  from  the  hills  and  val- 
leys from  either  side.  St.  Joseph’s  church,  a thing  which  in  country  parishes 
is  very  rare,  has  three  beautiful  marble  altars.  The  main  altar  is  the  gift  of 
Miss  Catherine  Coleman.  The  church  is  well  heated  and  lighted  by  electri- 
city. In  the  basement,  which  is  lightsome  and  airy,  the  Sunday-school  and  the 
church  societies  hold  their  meetings  and  have  all  their  parish  entertainments. 

The  parish  records  show  up  to  January,  1898,  2325  baptisms,  292  mar- 
riages, and  12  conversions  from  Protestantism. 

Rev.  John  F.  Redican  was  born  in  Worcester,  April  2d,  1857.  He 
attended  the  Worcester  grammar  and  high  school  and  completed  the  course 
at  Holy  Cross  College  in  1878.  He  studied  theology  at  the  Grand  Seminary 
of  Montreal,  where  he  was  ordained  December  17th,  1881.  The  whole  time 
of  his  curacy  he  was  assistant  to  Father  Quan  at  Webster.  After  five  years 
here  he  was  made  the  first  pastor  of  Cordaville,  with  Southboro  as  a mission, 
in  October,  1886.  His  work  in  Cordaville  was  marked  by  thoroughness  and 
attention  to  all  the  parish  interests,  and  for  this  he  was  promoted  to  Leicester, 
October  31st,  1892.  While  at  Cordaville  he  built  the  pretty  church  of  St. 
Anne  in  Southboro.  He  purchased  the  present  presbytery  in  Cordaville,  and 
did  much  to  beautify  St.  Matthew’s  church  in  the  same  village.  Sinpe 


198 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


coming  to  Leicester  he  has  made  improvements  about  the  church  and  grounds, 
built  a tower  above  the  church,  and  made  many  changes  in  the  interior.  He 
built  about  the  whole  front  of  the  property  a solid  stone  wall.  Father  Redi- 
can has  a genial  and  sympathetic  nature,  is  hearty,  and  capable  of  a great  deal 
of  work.  He  is  very  popular  with  his  associate  priests,  and  is  oftentimes  en- 
trusted by  them  with  duties  that  require  great  attention  to  detail.  He  is  presi- 
dent of  the  Holy  Cross  Alumni  in  Worcester  county.  He  is  of  good  parts,  is 
zealous,  and  has  been  a useful  and  hard-working  priest  since  the  day  of  his 
ordination. 

ST.  LEO’S  CHURCH, 

LEOMINSTER. 

'l^yONORABLE  CHARLES  H.  MERRIAM,  in  his  history  of  the  town 
► ^4  of  Leominster  says  that  the  first  movement  to  form  a Catholic  con- 
gregation  in  Leominster  was  made  in  1849,  when  Rev.  M.  W. 
Gibson  came  here  and  said  Mass  at  the  home  of  one  of  the  Catho- 
lic families.  He  subsequently  continued  his  visits  monthly,  but  as  the  num- 
bers increased  he  was  obliged  to  ask  the  selectmen  for  the  use  of  the  town 
hall,  which  was  generously  granted,  and  services  were  held  there  twice  a 
month.  A small  meeting-house  owned  by  the  Baptists,  then  situated  on 
Main  street,  near  the  north  village,  was  bought  by  Father  Gibson  in  1851, 
and  fitted  np  as  a Catholic  chapel.  After  Father  Gibson,  Father  Turpin 
attended  the  people  regularly  until  he  was  succeeded  in  the  pastorate  at 
Fitchburg  by  Rev.  Cornelius  Foley.  Father  Foley  bought  the  church  and 
parsonage  then  owned  by  the  Methodists,  and  fitted  them  up  as  a Catholic 
chapel  and  presbytery.  In  December,  1872,  Leominster  was  made  a parish, 
and  Rev.  Daniel  Shiel,  who  had  been  assistant  to  Father  Foley,  and  who 
knew  the  people  and  was  known  by  them,  was  given  charge  of  the  parish. 
Three  years  after  he  remodeled  the  church  so  as  to  make  it  capable  of  seating 
eight  hundred.  He  had  it  dedicated  to  Almighty  God  under  the  patronage 
of  St.  Leo.  The  parish  then  had  about  sixty-five  Catholic  families  ; to-day 
there  are  more  than  thirty-five  hundred  souls  within  its  lines,  close  to  one- 
third  of  the  entire  population  of  the  town.  In  1882  Father  Shiel  built  a 
very  convenient  presbytery.  About  two  years  ago  this  parochial  residence 
was  destroyed  by  fire.  The  pastor,  at  that  time,  was  absent  in  the  West 
Indies,  where  he  went  in  search  of  health,  and  knew  nothing  of  the  loss  until 
he  stepped  from  his  train  at  the  home  depot.  The  Leominster  fire  depart- 
ment disgraced  itself  at  this  fire.  The  blaze  was  started  in  the  attic  of  the 
house,  but  the  firemen  gave  their  whole  attention  to  the  cellar,  where  they 
made  liberal  and  lawless  use  of  the  altar  wines  and  whatever  else  they  could 
lay  hands  upon.  Their  action  caused  considerable  unpleasant  comment. 

In  May  of  the  present  year  the  valuable  Previer  estate  was  bought 
through  the  real  estate  agency  of  Patrick  Killelea  for  the  bishop  of  our  dio- 
cese. The  price  paid  was  sixteen  thousand  dollars.  This  property  is  on 
Main  street,  a short  distance  from  the  centre  of  Leominster,  and  direetly 
opposite  Carter  park.  The  plot  has  an  area  of  sixteen  square  rods,  and  a 
large  three-story  colonial  house  and  barn  stands  on  it.  Father  Shiel,  as 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


199 


pastor,  now  controls  four  valuable  lots  in  Leominster,  the  present  church 
lot,  the  one  on  which  stands  the  parochial  residence,  the  Previer  estate,  and 
a lot  situated  on  North  Main  street.  The  plans  of  the  new  church  are  already 
in  possession  of  the  bishop,  and  these  lots,  save  the  Previer  estate,  are  to  be 
Sold,  and  their  value  put  into  the  building  of  the  new  church. 

From  the  foundation  of  the  parish  to  January,  1898,  there  were  2,101 
baptisms  and  352  marriages. 

The  growth  of  Leominster  within  the  last  dozen  years  has  been  remark- 
able, but  the  growth  of  the  Catholic  population  has  surpassed  even  the  town 
growth.  The  people  of  the  parish,  the  majority  of  whom  are  of  Irish 
origin,  with  a scattering  of  French  and  other  nationalities,  are  spoken  of  by 
their  pastor  as  “good,  honest  citizens.”  Six  of  the  leading  business  men  of 
the  town  are  Catholics.  The  people  in  very  many  instances  own  their  own 
homes  and  are  quite  comfortable,  yet,  strange  to  say,  though  they  make  up 
close  to  one-third  of  the  population  no  Catholic  man  has  ever  held  a town 
office. 

There  are  many  Catholic  organizations  in  the  town,  among  them  being 
three  divisions  of  the  Ancient  Order,  a ladies’  auxiliary,  a council  of  the 
Knights  of  Columbus,  and  a society  of  forty  young  men,  called  the  Young 
Men’s  Catholic  Union,  which  boasts  that  its  forty  members  have  seen  servdce 
in  our  country’s  wars. 

The  curates  have  been  Revs.  John  Gavin,  two  years  and  eight  months ; 
D.  McGillicudy,  close  to  one  year;  James  Donnelly,  four  months;  William 
Adrian,  thirteen  months;  Patrick  Hafey,  fourteen  months;  Thomas  Smith, 
nine  mouths;  Thomas  C.  O’Connell,  who  came  in  1894  and  is  still  on  service, 
together  with  E.  P.  Dumphy,  who  came  to  the  pastorate  during  the  absence 
of  Father  Shiel  in  the  West  Indies,  in  1898. 

Rev.  Daniel  Shiel  was  born  in  Ireland  and  made  his  studies  at  Carlow 
College.  He  was  the  first  priest  ordained  by  Bishop  O’Reilly.  The  ordina- 
tion took  place  in  St.  John’s  church,  where  lie  afterwards  said  his  first  Mass. 
He  was  appointed  at  once  to  assist  Father  Foley  at  Fitchburg,  and  .said  his 
first  Mass,  as  assistant,  at  Leominster.  Of  late  years  Father  Shiel  has  not 
been  in  good  health,  and  the  once  tall  and  sturdy  figure  begins  to  show  the 
weight  of  years  and  the  labors  and  trials  of  his  mission.  He  is  much  beloved 
by  his  people,  and  has  been  a prudent  priest  during  the  whole  time  of  his 
quarter  of  a century’s  service. 

ST.  MARY’S  CHURCH, 

Milford. 

(5  I HE  first  Catholics  positively  known  in  Milford  bore  the  names  of  Adam 
^ I Supple,  Hugh  McGowan,  Edward  McGovern,  Dominic  McDevitt, 
Edward  Shields  and  Patrick  Ward.  The  records  as  early  as  1782 
show  the  name  of  Michael  Madden,  though  this  man  is  not  spoken  of  as  a 
Catholic.  In  1787  there  was  another  named  Luke  Kelley.  Nothing  can 
now  be  learned  of  his  religion  either.  In  1832  and  1833  there  were  a dozen 
Catholics  all  told  in  the  town,  and  these  w'ere  obliged  to  go  to  Boston  for 


200 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGFIELD. 


the  necessary  rites  of  their  church.  Later  on  they  went  to  Woonsocket  for 
marriage  or  baptism,  and  for  burial,  to  Blackstone.  The  statistics  left  by 
Father  Gibson  at  St.  John’s,  Worcester,  speak  of  Milford  as  one  of  his  numer- 
ous “stations,”  wherein  he  counts  “one  hundred  and  fifty  Catholics  in  the 
factories.”  The  first  Mass,  definitely  known  to  have  been  offered  up  here,  was 
said  by  Father  Fitton  some  time  before  1843  in  a cottage  house  then  standing 
in  the  rear  of  Gillon’s  block.  This  house  was  afterwards  owned  by  John 
Rogers,  who  moved  it  to  the  Medway  road.  There  were  a dozen  people 
present  at  the  Mass.  Masses  were  afterwards  said  in  the  home  of  Dominic 
McDevitt  on  the  Hopkinton  road,  which  is  the  house  now  occupied  by  Jere- 
miah Davoren.  The  people  came  from  the  surrounding  country  to  these 
Masses,  which  were  celebrated  once  a month  during  the  pastorate  of  Father 
Fitton’s  successor.  Rev.  Matthew  Gibson,  and  that  of  Father  Boyce,  until 
the  people  had  grown  so  numerous  that  no  private  house  could  contain  them. 
Sundays  when  the  priest  could  not  come  the  people  said  their  beads  or 
recited  the  litanies  in  common.  A committee  was  chosen  from  the  congre- 
gation in  the  time  of  Father  Boyce  to  engage  the  old  town  hall  for  services. 
They  succeeded  in  this,  but  after  a while  were  refused  the  hall  for  further 
religious  worship,  and  this  refusal  occasioned  a great  deal  of  bad  blood 
between  the  Catholics  and  the  Protestant  towns-people.  Some  of  the  more 
liberal  Protestants,  led  by  Seth  P.  Carpenter,  proprietor  of  the  Lyceum  Hall, 
protested  with  vehemence  against  the  unfairness  of  their  brethren.  They 
succeeded  in  shaming  the  bigots,  and  the  hall  was  again  allowed  to  the 
Catholic  people  for  religious  purposes.  Land  was  given  the  priest  for  the 
site  of  a church  by  Dominic  McDevitt,  and  in  1848  active  operations  were 
under  way  towards  the  building.  That  year  the  Providence  Railroad  was 
built  from  South  Framingham  to  Milford,  and  multitudes  of  Irishmen  came 
to  the  town.  Moreover,  it  was  the  famine  year  in  Ireland,  and  the  poor 
people  forced  in  thousands  from  their  homes  came  to  this  country.  Milford 
received  its  share.  The  church  was  built  and  ready  for  services  that  same 
year,  and  was  dedicated  by  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Fitzpatrick  of  Boston.  Father 
Theobald  Matthew,  the  famous  temperance  apostle,  preached  the  dedicatory 
sermon.  The  first  day  of  March,  1850,  Rev.  George  A.  Hamilton  was  named 
the  first  resident  pastor.  Three  years  later  he  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Michael 
Caraher,  who  in  turn  was  followed  one  year  later  by  Rev.  Edward  Farrelly. 
Father  Cuddihy  came  in  1857. 

An  incident  in  the  life  of  P'ather  Caraher,  the  second  pastor,  during  the 
time  of  the  Know-nothings,  created  a great  deal  of  e.xcitement.  He  was 
what  the  Irish  people  call  at  home,  “ a gentleman’s  son,”  and  was  a lover  of 
the  “horse  and  hounds.”  While  here  he  was  in  the  habit  of  going  to  the 
missions  in  the  saddle  with  two  dogs  at  his  horse’s  heels.  Some  young 
American  men  of  the  town,  calling  themselves  the  “wide-awakes,”  annoyed 
Father  Caraher  a great  deal  by  throwing  missiles  at  him,  and  at  his  horse 
and  dogs,  and  shouting  out  abusive  epithets.  One  day  the  priest,  to  scare 
them,  pointed  at  them  an  old  empty  pistol.  A warrant  was  sworn  out  for 
his  arrest,  and  he  was  brought  before  Squire  Scammell,  then  Justice  of  the 


Rev,  P.  CUDDIHY  (Deceased.) 


Rev.  L.  J.  ACHEM. 


Rev.  M.  J.  CARROLL. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


201 


Peace.  The  trial  of  the  priest  was  held  in  the  old  brick  church  amidst  great 
excitement.  The  priest  was  discharged,  and  what  promised  to  become  a 
gp'eat  sensation  proved  only  a day’s  wonder. 

With  the  coming  of  Father  Cnddihy  came  a new  life.  Even  then  he 
was  a man  of  reputation  in  Ireland  and  in  this  country,  as  an  advocate  of  the 
people’s  rights  and  privileges,  political  and  religious.  He  was  born  on  St. 
Patrick’s  Day  in  Clonmel,  Ireland,  in  1809,  and  was  named  Patrick  in  honor 
of  the  nation’s  apostle.  In  early  youth  he  went  to  the  university  at  Rome 
for  stndy.  He  attended  the  college  of  St.  Isadore  and  the  Sapienza.  He 
was  ordained  in  that  city  on  Christmas  Day,  1831,  by  Cardinal  Zula,  Vicar 
of  Pope  Gregory  XVI.  He  returned  to  Ireland  one  year  later,  and  was 
stationed  alternately  in  Tipperary  and  Waterford.  He  became  known  from 
the  first  as  a man  of  great  attainments.  He  was  a close  friend  of  the  famous 
Dr.  Cahill  and  the  more  famous  Daniel  O’Connell.  He  left  Ireland  for 
America  in  1852,  and  had  labored  in  nearly  all  the  towns  of  Berkshire 
county  for  five  years  when  called  by  the  Bishop  to  Milford.  He  was  a great 
builder  of  churches.  In  Waterford  a stately  temple  is  monument  to  the 
priestly  zeal  of  his  youth.  In  Pittsfield  he  enlarged  and  remodeled  the  first 
parish  church.  He  built  a church  in  Lee,  another  at  North  Adams,  and  still 
another  at  Great  Barrington  ; two  of  these  are  yet  serving  the  people.  In 
Milford  he  built  the  magnificent  church  of  St.  Mary.  Its  corner-stone  was 
laid  by  Rt.  Rev.  John  J.  Williams,  June  ist,  1866.  It  was  opened  for  public 
worship  December  25th,  1869.  It  is  built  of  granite  found  in  the  “ Rocky 
Woods,”  a property  personally  owned  by  Father  Cnddihy.  It  is  in  early 
English  style  of  architecture,  and  seats  fourteen  hundred  people.  Adjoining 
it  is  a tract  of  land  of  two  acres,  which  is  site  for  the  priests’  house  and 
gardens. 

When  this  church  was  built  in  Milford,  Rev.  Adin  Ballou  wrote  ; “ The 
Catholics  of  Milford,  as  elsewhere,  seem  to  have  an  auspicious  future  before 
them.  They  are  already  numerous  and  waxing  respectable  in  temporal  as  well 
as  in  spiritual  affairs.  They  multiply  rapidly  in  their  families.  They  are  in- 
dustrious and  frugal,  and  so  increasing  in  prosperity.  They  are  growing 
more  and  more  Americanized  continually  in  civil,  political  and  social  rela- 
tionships. They  are  gaining  prominence  year  after  year  at  the  polls  and  as 
municipal  office-holders.  Meantime  they  are  generally  persistent  adherents 
to  their  own  mother  church,  devoted  attendants  on  its  time-honored  ritual 
services,  and  free-handed  contributors,  in  the  way  of  money,  to  its  support. 
Almost  all  of  them  are  liberal  tributants  to  its  treasury.  And  above  all,  they 
are  under  the  most  reverent  control  of  the  most  effective  clerical  organizations 
in  Christendom.” 

On  April  27,  1890,  a splendid  tower  completed  the  church.  It  was  dedi- 
cated that  day  by  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  O’Reilly,  of  Springfield,  who  also 
preached  the  sermon  in  the  presence  of  a large  congregation  of  people,  and 
a great  number  of  priests  from  the  surrounding  towns.  They  blessed  that  day 
also  a great  bell  which  now  swings  in  the  tower,  and  which  was  the  personal 
gift  of  Father  Cuddihy. 


202 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


In  1880  Father  Cuddihy  called  the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame  to  Milford  and 
opened  for  the  children  of  the  parish  the  first  parochial  school.  “ Of  the  many 
good  and  greatthings,”  said  a friendly  writer,  “ done  by  the  pastor  of  St.  Mary’s 
to  assist  the  Catholics  of  the  town  during  his  long  life  among  them,  not  one 
could  have  done  more  good  for  the  children  of  Milford  than  the  introduction 
of  the  parochial  schools.”  A writer  of  Milford,  in  1894,  speaking  of  the  great 
saving  to  the  town  by  the  building  of  the  parochial  schools  in  1894,  thus 
reasons  : “According  to  the  report  of  the  School  Committee  last  year  (1893), 
which  gives  the  expense  per  pupil,  based  on  daily  attendance,  the  average  of 
each  pupil  of  the  public  school  is  $21.84.  i^he  daily  attendance  at  St.  Mary’s 
parochial  school  is  two  hundred  and  fifty  children.  This,  according  to  the 
cost  per  pupil  as  given  by  the  school  committee,  is  a saving  of  five  thousand 
four  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  per  year.  This  number  of  pupils  have  attended 
St.  Mary’s  school  since  its  commencement,  fifteen  years  ago,  which  has  been 
a saving  to  the  town  and  taxpayers  of  the  enormous  sum  of  seventy-six  thou- 
sand, four  hundred  and  forty  dollars.'  So  that  while  the  Catholics  ask  noth- 
ing from  the  Protestants  for  their  maintenance,  it  is  well  that  they  should 
know  the  large  amount  of  money  the  town  is  saved  through  the  creation  of 
the  parochial  schools  of  St.  Mary.  The  morals,  manners  and  religious  teach- 
ings, besides  the  practical,  every-day  education  that  the  children  receive  at 
the  .schools  must  necessarily  be  an  advantage,  by  example  and  otherwise,  to 
all  other  children  throughout  the  town.” 

In  1890  Father  Cuddihy  erected  a commodious,  well-aired  and  well- 
lighted  granite  school  building.  This  parochial  .school  building  at  Milford  is 
perhaps  equal  to  any  in  the  State. 

Father  Cuddihy  died  on  the  afternoon  of  December  8,  1898,  close  to  the 
ninetieth  year  of  his  age ; and,  up  to  a month  before  his  death  he  was  as  bright, 
and  seemingly  as  strong  as  a man  of  fifty.  The  great  energy  that  made  him  a 
marked  man  in  the  troublous  times  in  Ireland,  and  in  the  Know-nothing  days 
in  America,  and  which  made  his  name  a familiar  one  from  end  to  end  of  the 
old  land  and  many  portions  of  the  new,  kept  him  hale  and  strong  to  the  last. 
The  words  written  of  him  by  a priest  of  our  diocese  in  1 894  were  true  of  him,  to 
the  last:  “ ‘Half  priest,  half  hussar,’  the  people  used  to  say  at  Kopkiuton, 
when  Father  Cuddihy,  in  his  young  days,  came  dashing  over  the  hills  to  attend 
them.  That  was  in  the  days  of  long  rides  and  wide  missions.  Any  one  to-day, 
looking  at  the  lithe  figure,  tall  and  straight  as  an  Irish  pike-staff,  and  noting  the 
springy  step  and  fresh  countenance,  and  perchance  catching  the  firm  accents, 
telling  of  mind  and  tongue  yet  bright  and  keen  as  a flashing  scimitar,  would 
be  puzzled  to  say  whether  the  man  was  near  to  fifty  or  ninety,  and  whether 
the  man  was  priest  or  trooper,  and  would  wonder  how  any  man  could  have  so 
survived  the  hardships  of  a missionary  priest’s  life  to  this  day.  Father  Cuddihy 
was  ordained  in  Rome  in  December,  1831.  He  was  sixty-two  years  a priest  last 
Christmas,  and  is,  therefore,  the  oldest  priest  in  the  country.  He  is  now  nearing 
his  eighty-seventh  year ; but  age  does  not  seem  to  take  the  edge  from  his  irl- 


Our  computation  would  make  this  saving  $84,900,  an  increase  of  $8, ado 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRING  El  ELD. 


208 


terest  in  life  or  to  dim  the  fires  of  his  spirit.  He  is  yet  as  young  as  the  priest 
ordained  last  Christmas.  It  is  only  when  one  hears  him  talk  familiarly  of 
four  popes,  and  reads  his  name  with  O’ Connell’s  in  Irish  history,  that  you 
marvel  at  the, man  beside  you.” 

He  was  in  the  vigor  of  manhood  when  made  rector  at  Milford,  August 
•5)  1857,  upon  the  death  of  Father  Farrelly.  His  parish  then  embraced 
Westboro,  Medway,  Hopkinton,  Holliston,  Ashland  and  Upton.  Each  of 
these  towns  to-day  is  a parish  by  itself.  During  his  time  in  Milford  he  did 
much  to  encourage  education  in  his  flock,  and  took  great  pride  in  pointing 
out  the  large  number  of  his  parish  who  filled  positions  of  trust  in  the  com- 
munity. He  fearlessly  rebuked  every  movement  which  he  believed  would 
not  be  for  the  interests  of  those  whom  he  safe-guarded.  The  Springfield 
Republican  of  December  9th,  1898,  speaking  of  him,  said  : “ He  was  a firm  and 
unflinching  opponent  of  infidel  philosophy  and  visionary  reforms.  As  a pul- 
pit orator,  he  was  effective,  and  was  always  found  a reliable  and  earnest  man.” 

By  will  dated  June  9,  1893,  he  left  all  of  the  property  of  St.  Mary’s 
church,  Milford,  to  Rt.  Rev,  Thomas  D.  Beaven,  Bishop  of  Springfield,  “to 
be  managed  by  him  for  the  benefit  of  the  parish.”  This  property  included 
the  house,  offices,  land,  the  convent,  parochial  school,  and  other  buildings 
connected  with  the  church  of  St.  Mary.  To  this  were  added  ten  acres  of  land 
to  be  used  for  cemetery  purposes,  and  another  parcel  of  land  on  ’Winter 
street;  the  house  opposite  St.  Mary’s  church  used  by  the  sexton,  and  all 
the  household  furniture  in  the  presbytery.  The  will  provided  that  land  on 
Davenport  Street,  Boston,  belonging  to  him,  be  sold,  and  the  proceeds  used 
in  the  building  of  schools  in  St.  Mary’s  parish. 

In  a codicil  to  the  will  he  left  the  granite  quarry  owned  by  him  to 
Bishop  Beaven,  to  be  kept  for  the  use  of  St.  Mary’s  church.  He  gave  two 
thousand  dollars  to  the  chapel  at  Clonmel  ; one  thousand  dollars  for  charity 
in  the  diocese  ; one  thousand  dollars  to  the  Catholic  University  at  Washing- 
ton, and  the  land  owned  by  him  in  Wellesley  Hills  to  be  sold,  and  the  pro- 
ceeds used  for  the  parochial  schools  in  Milford.  To  the  bishop  he  also  gave 
a house  on  Granite  street,  “ to  be  .sold  or  managed  by  him  for  the  benefit  of 
the  parochial  schools.”  He  left  a thousand  dollars  for  a future  Catholic 
Cathedral  in  Springfield.  The  rest  he  left  in  private  bequests. 

Father  Cuddihy  died  of  old  age.  He  was  the  oldest  Catholic  priest  in 
years  and  in  service  in  the  United  States.  His  funeral  was  attended  by  three 
thousand  people,  and  the  public  prints  of  the  day  state  that  as  many  more 
were  unable  to  gain  admittance  to  the  church.  The  High  Mass  of  Requiem 
was  celebrated  by  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Beaven,  of  Springfield,  and  the  eulogy, 
which  was  pronounced  by  the  press  as  “masterly,”  was  preached  by  Rev. 
Father  Scully,  of  Cambridgeport.  One  hundred  and  fifty  clergymen  from 
all  over  this  State  and  neighboring  States  were  seated  in  the  sanctuary  or 
around  the  catafalque.  The  last  absolution  after  the  Mass  was  pronounced 
by  the  venerable  Archbishop  Williams,  of  Boston. 

Father  Cuddihy  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  James  Canavan,  who  for  many 
years  was  his  faithful  assistant. 


204 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Rev.  James  T.  Canavan,  the  present  pastor,  was  born  in  the  city  of  Wor- 
cester, about  forty-nine  years  ago,  of  Irish  parents.  He  is  a graduate  of  the 
Worcester  High  School,  and  of  St.  Charles’  College,  Baltimore.  Theology 
he  studied  at  Troy,  N.  Y. ; was  ordained  in  the  Cathedral  at  Springfield  by 
Bishop  O’Reilly,  August  15th,  1873.  He  came  at  once  to  Milford  as  curate 
to  Father  Cuddihy,  and,  with  the  exception  of  about  a year  spent  at  West 
Fitchburg,  has  remained  here  ever  since.  Father  Canavan  has  served  terms 
on  the  school  board  in  Milford,  and  was  chosen  by  the  citizens  as  one  of  the 
orators  in  Milford’s  centennial  celebration  in  1880.  All  classes  in  the  com- 
munity, Protestants  as  well  as  Catholics,  deeply  appreciate  Father  Canavan, 
whose  capacity  for  hard  labor,  and  whose  abiding  interest  in  his  people  has 
never  slackened  during  the  many  years  of  his  service. 

The  people  of  this  parish  number  4300,  and  are  mainly  of  the  Irish  race, 
though  there  are  bodies  of  Canadians  and  Italians  amongst  them. 

There  have  been  1236  marriages,  5786  baptisms,  and  26  conversions 
from  Protestantism  since  the  founding  of  the  parish  up  to  January,  1898. 

ST.  BRIDGET’S  CHURCH, 

Millbury. 

fHERE  were  Catholic  people  in  Millbury  before  1834.  That  was  the 
year  that  Father  Fitton  began  the  care  of  the  people  of  Worcester,  and 
when  he  had  his  first  Mass  in  that  city,  working  people  came  from 
Millbury  to  assist  at  the  service.  From  time  to  time,  during  his  pastorate  in 
Worcester,  Father  Fitton  said  Mass  in  the  old  “Arcade,”  or  in  the  house  of 
James  Campbell,  who  then  lived  at  the  west  side  of  the  town.  Father 
Williamson  continued  the  service,  and  when  Father  Gibson  became  pastor, 
in  April,  1845,  he  offered  up  Mass  at  regular  intervals  in  the  town  hall.  The 
Sundays  the  people  had  no  service  in  Millbury  they  walked  to  the  church  on 
Temple  street,  or  to  Holy  Cross  College,  for  the  sacrifice.  Father  Gibson 
says  that  in  1846  there  were  in  Millbury  “about  two  hundred  Catholics  in 
the  factories.”  That  same  year  a French  priest,  Father  L’Eveque,  was  sent 
to  St.  John’s  church  with  the  especial  care  of  the  Canadian  families  settled 
here  about.  They  numbered  then,  in  Worcester  and  vicinity,  130.  Mill- 
bury was  a mission  of  St.  John’s  until  1850.  In  June  of  that  year  the  Catho- 
lics of  the  town,  in  public  meeting,  determined  upon  the  erection  of  a church. 
Michael  Coogan,  who  had  been  here  since  1830,  gave  land  for  a church  site, 
and  Father  Gibson  began  the  erection  of  St.  Bridget’s  church  on  the  20th 
day  of  the  following  October.  Work  was  pushed  with  sufficient  rapidity  as 
to  enable  him  to  say  Mass  within  the  new  building  on  Christmas  Day  that 
same  year.  The  church  was  dedicated  by  Bishop  Fitzpatrick  under  the 
patronage  of  St.  Bridget,  October  2,  1851.  The  day  before  the  dedication 
Father  L’Eveque  was  made  the  first  pastor  of  the  new  parish  of  Millbury. 
He  never  had  a permanent  home  in  Millbury,  for  his  duties  kept  him  con- 
stantly going  in  the  missionary  work  to  which  his  life  was  given.  September 
20,  1853,  Millbury  ceased  to  be  a parish  by  itself,  and  was  annexed  to  Ux- 
bridge and  the  care  of  Rev.  E.  J.  Sheridan,  as  a mission.  Later  it  became  a 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGEIELD. 


205 


mission  of  St.  Anne’s  church,  Worcester,  than  under  the  control  of  Rev. 
John  Power,  now  vicar-general  of  the  diocese.  Millbur>’  knew  Father 
Power’s  care  close  to  eleven  years,  during  which  time  he  built  a transept  to 
the  church  and  enlarged  its  seating  capacity  so  as  to  include  a thousand. 
June  30,  1869,  Rev.  Michael  Dougherty  was  appointed  to  Millbury,  which  on 
that  date  was  again  made  a parish.  Father  Dougherty  was  young  and  strong, 
and  gifted  with  unusual  eloquence.  He  attracted  the  people  to  him,  and 
they  were  always  ready  enthusiastically  “to  do  his  bidding.”  He  improved 
the  interior  of  the  church,  frescoed  it,  and,  two  years  after  his  coming,  built 
the  present  splendid  presbytery.  In  1884  his  health  began  to  fail,  and  in 
August,  1886,  he  died.  September  ist,  that  same  year,  he  was  succeeded  by 
Rev.  William  H,  Goggin.  Almost  immediately  upon  his  coming  Father 
Goggin  began  making  improvements  in  the  church.  He  almost  rebuilt  it ; he 
enlarged  it,  beautified  it,  put  in  galleries  and  windows,  frescoed  it  and  erected 
new  altars.  At  the  same  time  he  graded  the  grounds  about  the  property,  and 
built  up  the  stone  wall  which  enclosed  the  property,  and  put  in  the  granite  steps 
which  lead  from  the  street  below  up  to  the  front  door  of  the  church.  A year 
or  two  later  he  had  the  whole  church  wired  for  electricity.  A short  while 
before  his  transfer  to  Pittsfield  he  put  in  a new  church  organ.  He  bought  a 
cemetery  in  his  own  right  and  made  it  a free  gift  to  his  people.  In  the  fall 
of  1898  he  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Charles  J.  Boy  Ian.  Father  Boylan  remained 
but  a short  time.  His  health  failing  him,  he  was  obliged  to  relinquish  the 
parish.  On  October  6,  1898,  Father  P.  L.  Quaille,  then  pastor  of  Turner’s 
Falls,  came  to  the  parish.  Father  Quaille  was  born,  March  14th,  1836,  in 
Ireland.  He  studied  first  at  Holy  Cross  College,  where  he  remained  three 
years.  He  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  student  at  the  college  to  receive  a 
cross  of  honor  from  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts.  Governor  Andrew,  in 
1862,  was  present  for  the  first  time  at  the  college  commencement.  On 
account  of  delicate  health  he  studied  at  St.  Mary’s  College,  and  after- 
wards at  St.  Thomas’  Seminary  in  California  for  two  years.  He  entered 
St.  Joseph’s  College,  in  Troy,  for  philosophy,  and  finished  there  the  first 
year  of  his  theology.  He  completed  his  theological  studies  at  St.  Bonaven- 
ture’s,  Alleghany,  in  1869.  He  had  studied  for  California,  but  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  new  diocese  of  Springfield  through  Bishop  O’Reilly,  who,  though 
named,  was  not  yet  consecrated  bishop  of  this  diocese.  He  was  ordained 
June  21,  1871,  by  Bishop  McQuaid,  of  Rochester. 

In  1872  Father  Quaille  remodeled  the  old  church  of  St.  Mary’s,  in  Tur- 
ner Falls,  and  enlarged  its  seating  capacity  seven  hundred.  In  1873  he  built 
the  parochial  residence  and  bought  the  cemetery  in  1876.  He  built  a church 
in  Northfield,  and  another  in  Miller’s  Falls. 

The  curates  of  this  parish  have  been  Rev.  Edward  J.  Taylor,  August  25, 
1872  to  October  8,  1872  ; Rev.  R.  S.  J.  Burke,  September  10,  1876  to  May  26, 
1878;  Rev.  James  McCloskey,  September  22,  1878  to  September  29,  1878; 
Rev.  James  Coyle,  November  6,  1878  to  December  9,  1879;  Rev.  John  T. 
Sheehan,  January  18,  1880  to  April  15,  1880;  Rev.  James  P.  Tuite,  May  9, 
1880  to  October  26,  1881  ; Rev.  John  D.  McGann,  January  15,  1882  to  Novem- 


206 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


her  II,  1884;  Rev.  John  F.  Hannon,  February  22,  1885  to  May  3,  1885  ; Rev. 
J.  L.  Tarpey,  August  23,  1885  to  September  i,  1886;  Rev.  Thomas  P.  McDon- 
nell, October  6,  1898  to  September  i,  1899;  and  Rev.  E.  F.  Brosnahan,  from 
September  i,  1899,  who  is  still  on  duty. 

Since  the  foundation  of  the  parish  up  to  January,  1898,  there  have  been 
1930  baptisms,  427  marriages  and  4 conversions  from  Protestantism. 

The  Catholic  people  of  St.  Bridget’s  are  largely  mill  operatives  or 
workers  in  the  shops.  Several,  however,  are  well-to-do  and  are  in  prosperous 
business.  All  the  people  are  Irish  either  by  birth  or  origin.  They  number 
908. 

CHURCH  OF  THE  ASSUMPTION  (French), 

Millbl'ry. 

FTER  some  months  of  racial  trouble  between  the  French-Canadians 
and  the  pastor  of  the  English-speaking  Catholics  in  Millbury,  per- 
mission  was  granted  them  to  form  a congregation  of  themselves. 

A very  bad  spirit  had  been  shown  by  the  French-Canadians 
before  Bishop  O’Reilly  gave  his  permission  fora  separate  parish.  They  clam- 
ored for  a priest  speaking  their  own  tongue  and  of  their  own  blood,  and  when 
their  wish  was  not  immediately  acceded  to,  they  betook  themselves  to  the  town 
hall  and  had  a religious  service  without  the  priest.  They  said  the  rosary,  sang 
hymns,  or  did  whatever  their  leaders  might  suggest.  Naturally  Protestants 
sympathized  with  them,  because  they  saw  in  this  estrangement  a possibility 
of  perversion,  and  this  sympathy  seemed  a strong  support  and  encouragement 
to  the  misguided  people.  Bishop  O’Reilly,  when  satisfied  of  the  wisdom  of 
his  course,  sent  them  as  their  first  pastor  Rev.  J.  A.  Charland.  On  the  20th 
of  April,  1884,  the  Sunday  following  his  appointment,  he  said  the  first  Mass 
for  the  French-Canadians  in  the  town  hall.  He  has  since  remained  with 
them.  In  1886  Father  Cliarland,  assisted  by  his  enthusiastic  people,  was  able 
to  build  the  church  of  the  Assumption  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  This  was  built 
on  a lot  of  land  which  he  purchased  at  the  corner  of  Water  and  Grove  streets, 
at  a cost  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  He  had  the  foundations  com- 
plete September  28th  of  that  same  year,  and  the  first  Mass  was  said  in  the 
new  church  October  3,  1886.  The  original  plans  called  for  a church  of  brick, 
but  by  the  advice  of  the  bishop  the  plans  were  changed  and  the  wooden 
church  now  serving  the  people  was  built.  Father  Charland  has  been  fifteen 
years  in  service  in  this  parish.  In  May  following  his  appointment  the  popu- 
lation of  the  parish  was  counted  as  thirteen  hundred  and  fifty  souls,  to-day 
the  population  is  something  more  than  a thousand. 

In  the  first  ten  years  of  the  parish  life  the  records  show  803  baptisms,  154 
marriages  and  5 conversions  from  Protestantism.  Father  Charland  does  not 
think  very  highly  of  the  character  of  his  converts. 

The  parish  owns  a church,  presbyter\’  and  a stable,  also  a second  pres- 
bytery in  course  of  construction. 

The  people  of  this  parish  have  among  them  a fair  proportion  of  the  mer- 
chants of  the  town.  They  stand  in  society  as  well  as  any  of  their  neighbors. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


207 


Tlieir  political  influence  does  not  count  for  much  because  of  the  lack  of  citi- 
zens among  them. 

Father  Charland  was  born  in  Canada  in  1854.  He  was  educated  at  As- 
sumption College,  Montreal,  and  was  ordained  in  that  city  in  1878.  He  came 
to  the  diocese  of  Springfield  in  1880,  and  was  immediately  made  assistant  at 
Indian  Orchard.  He  was  then  transferred  to  Ware,  and  was  at  Ware  when 
made  pa.stor  of  Millbury. 

CHURCH  OF  ST.  AUGUSTINE, 

Millville. 

fHE  people  of  Millville  and  vicinity  before  1879  walked  two  miles  to 
Blackstone  to  hear  Mass.  In  that  year  the  Felting  Company  of  Law- 
rence built  a mill  in  the  town,  and  a good  number  of  the  faithful 
came  for  work.  Father  William  Power,  pastor  of  St.  Paul’s,  Blackstone, 
thereupon  bought  an  old  Congregational  meeting-house,  and  herein  said  the 
first  Mass  ever  offered  up  in  Millville.  This  was  said  in  the  .spring  of  1879. 
He  also  bought  a goodly  tract  of  la'nd  conveniently  situated  for  a parish 
property.  The  next  year  he  built  upon  this  property,  according  to  plans 
made  by  P.  W.  Ford,  of  Boston,  a pretty  Romanesque  frame  church,  which 
was  named  St.  Augustine’s.  Its  original  dimensions  were  seventy  by  forty 
feet,  and  it  had  a seating  capacity  of  three  hundred  and  twenty- five.  There 
was  a notable  increase  of  Catholics  in  1882,  for  then  it  was  that  the  late 
Joseph  Bannigan  began  the  building  of  his  great  rubber  factory  in  Millville. 
There  were  then  twelve  hundred  and  fifty  Catholics  in  the  place,  and  the 
year  following  Father  William  Powers  recommended  to  the  bishop  the 
appointment  of  a resident  pastor.  In  keeping  with  Father  Power’s  sugges- 
tion Bishop  O’Reilly,  on  the  14th  day  of  October,  1884,  named  Rev.  Michael 
H.  Kittredge,  who  was  curate  at  Westboro,  the  first  resident  pastor.  When 
Father  Kittredge  as.sumed  control  of  the  parish  he  had  twenty-five  hundred 
dollars  debt  to  care  for.  In  a short  time  this  was  paid.  On  his  appointment 
Father  Kittredge  was  forced  to  enlarge  the  church  to  its  present  dimensions. 
It  now  is  one  hundred  and  seventy-one  feet  by  forty  feet  wide  in  the  nave,  and 
eighty  feet  wide  in  the  transept.  He  increased  accordingly  the  seating 
capacity  from  three  hundred  and  twenty-five  to  seven  hundred  and  fifty.  In 
that  year  he  also  began  the  building  of  the  parochial  residence.  This  finished 
he  built  a substantial  stone  wall  around  the  property,  put  in  concrete  walks, 
and  terraced  the  property  just  inside  the  stone  wall.  The  church  is  now 
heated  by  steam,  and  lighted  by  electricity.  In  1890  at  a cost  of  eleven  hun- 
dred dollars  he  put  in  the  church  a fine  organ  built  by  Adams  & Son  of  Provi- 
dence. In  1893  Mr.  J.  M.  Bowes  paid  for  a bell  which  now  hangs  in  the 
church  tower.  That  same  year  Father  Kittredge  bought  twenty  thousand 
feet  of  land  east  of  the  parochial  estate.  During  the  fifteen  years  of  Father 
Kittredge’s  pastorate  here  he  has  retained  the  good  will  of  his  parish,  and  in 
fact  of  all  of  the  towns-people,  and  so  wdsely  has  he  managed  the  parish 
affairs  that,  in  spite  of  the  work  done  in  so  short  a period,  the  St.  Augustine’s 
parish  for  four  years  now  has  been  free  from  debt. 


208 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Ill  the  first  ten  years  of  the  parish  life  there  were  573  baptisms,  1 13  mar- 
riages, and  sixteen  conversions  from  Protestantism.  “ These  converts,”  Father 
Kittredge  writes,  “ were  intelligent  and  anxious  to  learn  the  truths  of  our 
religion ; all  but  one  are  still  here  and  are  a source  of  edification  to  the 
community.” 

The  prosperity  of  the  town,  and  consequently  of  the  parish,  depended  in 
a large  measure  upon  Mr.  Bannigan  of  Providence.  Since  the  formation  of 
the  Rubber  Trusts,  and  the  death  of  Mr.  Bannigan,  the  parish  appears  to  have 
gone  down  a trifle,  for  now  there  are  but  ten  hundred  and  fifty  people  ; two 
hundred  less  than  the  number  which  greeted  Father  Kittredge  on  his  coming. 
Of  these  the  vast  majority  are  of  the  Irish  race,  though  there  are  several 
families  from  Newfoundland,  and  here  and  there  some  French  Canadians, 
and  a handful  of  Poles. 

The  kindliest  relations  have  always  obtained  between  the  Catholics  and 
their  neighbors  here,  and  the  relations  between  pastor  and  people  have  been 
of  the  happiest. 

The  parish  now  has  a church,  a presbytery,  and  three  acres  of  land, 
whereon  Father  Kittredge  hopes  soon  to  build  a parish  school. 

Rev.  Michael  Kittredge  was  born  in  Clinton.  He  studied  there  in  the 
public  schools,  and  afterwards  at  Holy  Cross  College,  whence  he  was  gradu- 
ated in  1875.  Theology  he  studied  in  the  Grand  Seminary  of  Montreal, 
where  he  was  ordained  the  21st  day  of  December,  1878.  He  was  at  once  sent 
as  assistant  to  Westboro,  and  served  there  the  whole  time  of  his  curacy. 
Father  Kittredge  is  a quiet,  laborious  man,  entirely  given  to  the  care  of  his 
parish  and  his  people’s  interests.  He  has  always  been  well  liked,  and  from 
the  first  has  proved  himself  capable  in  parish  concerns.  Yet  in  his  full  health 
and  vigor,  with  considerable  work  already  to  his  credit,  he  gives  promise  of 
very  much  and  better  work  in  the  years  to  come. 

Speaking  of  his  people,  he  says : ” They  are  the  largest  property  holders 
here,  with  the  exception  of  the  owners  of  the  mills.  They  own  and  conduct 
most  of  the  stores.  They  are  represented  in  every  board  of  the  town  govern- 
ment ; in  fact  the  Catholics  of  the  town  control  its  political  affairs.” 


ST.  ROSE’S  CHURCH, 

Northboro. 

Mission. — St.  Teresa’s  Church,  Shrewsbury. 

’OME  TIME  in  June,  1843,  Father  Fitton  said  Mass  in  the  home  of 
an  IrishiCatholic,  Cornelius  McMerriman,  a little  house  yet  standing 
adjacent  to  the  princely  estate  of  G.  Wesson,  the  multi-millionaire 
pistol  manufacturer  of  Springfield.  There  were  thirteen  people 
present  at  this  Mass.  They  were,  Cornelius  McMerriman,  wife  and  son, 
Hugh  Carlin,  Alexander  McMerriman,  Alexander  Bonner,  wife  and  daughter, 
Mr.  Moore  and  wife,  James  King,  and  Bernard  Colligan  and  wife.  These 
people  were  north  of  Ireland  Catholics.  Of  those  who  attended  that  first 
Mass  all  remained  true  to  that  faith  which  was  dear  to  them,  with  the 
exception  of  one.  These  people  came  to  Northboro  in  1834.  The  priest 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


209 


came  once  a year  for  four  or  five  years  thereafter,  but  after  1845,  Father  Gib- 
son came  once  every  three  months,  as  did  Father  John  Boyce  and  Rev.  P.  T. 
O’Reilly  after  him.  The  church  of  St.  Rose  was  built  in  1883  and  1884.  In 
1886  Northboro  was  made  a parish  by  itself,  and  Rev.  James  McCloskey  was 
made  the  first  pastor.  He  served  to  January,  1889,  when  he  was  succeeded 
by  the  Rev.  James  Galvin,  who  was  transferred  to  East  Douglas  in  April,  1893. 
Father  Dwyer  succeeded  him.  He  served  one  year,  when  he  was  replaced  by 
the  present  pastor.  Rev.  Levi  Achim.  Up  the  appointment  of  Father 
McCloskey,  Northboro  was  a mission  of  Westboro. 

During  the  pastorate  of  Father  Galvin  the  present  presbytery,  which  is 
a very  beautiful  and  home-like  place,  was  purchased  for  the  parish. 

There  were  twenty-one  Irish  people  in  Northboro  in  1845,  five  years 
later  several  French  Canadians  settled  in  the  town.  There  are  now  of  both 
races  about  six  hundred  and  fifty  souls. 

Parish  records  preceding  1880  are  lost.  From  that  date  to  January,  1898, 
600  baptisms  and  100  marriages  are  recorded. 

The  people  here  are  spoken  of  by  their  pastor,  as,  “ peaceful,  hard  work- 
ing people.  There  are,”  he  adds,  “ only  two  in  business.  A large  number 
of  them  vote,  but  they  have  no  political  influence.” 

More  than  twenty-six  years  ago  Father  Thomas  Griffin  of  Worcester  had 
charge  of  the  mission  ot  Shrewsbury  as  well  as  of  those  of  Stoneville  and  Holden 
He  left  a neat  sum  of  money  in  the  mission  treasury  for  the  building  of  a 
church,  and  this  was  used  by  Father  Derbnil  to  build  the  present  chapel. 
In  this  mission,  which  now  belongs  to  Northboro,  there  are  two  hundred  and 
fifty  souls.  During  the  pastorate  of  Father  Dwyer  he  renovated  the  old 
church,  beautified  the  grounds  about  it,  enlarged  it,  and  made  it  altogether 
presentable. 

Rev.  Levi  J.  Achim  was  born  in  Spencer,  Mass.  He  passed  through  the 
ordinary  school  course  of  his  native  town,  and  later  made  his  study  of  theology 
at  Montreal  Seminary,  and  there  was  ordained  in  December,  1888. 


CHURCHES  OF  ST.  MARTIN  AND  ST.  JOSEPH. 


Otter  River,  Barre,  Templeton,  Royalston  and  Petersham. 

(5  I EMPLETON,  which  embraces  the  villages  of  Otter  River  and  Baldwin- 
^ I ville,  was  settled  about  1751.  With  the  building  of  the  Boston  and 
; Albany  railroad  west,  Father  Fitton  says  the  Irish  came  to  the  towns 
along  the  line,  and  to  some  of  the  neighboring  towns,  amongst  which  he 
names  Templeton.  There  must  have  been  Catholics  in  Otter  River  in  1837, 
for  whom  Father  Fitton  had  a “ station.”  Father  Gibson,  who  was  pastor  at 
Worcester  in  185 1,  and  had  charge  of  Fitchburg  and  surrounding  towns,  said 
Mass  in  the  house  of  Patrick  O’Brien,  which  stood,  and  still  stands,  near  the 
foundry.  Father  Gibson  celebrated  Mass  in  Mr.  O’Brien’s  house  at  intervals 
of  once  every  three  months  until  1854,  with  the  exception  of  two  occasions, 
on  one  of  which  Mass  was  said  in  the  woods,  and  at  another  time  in  a little 
school-house  on  the  Winchendon  road. 


210 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGFIELD. 


Amongst  the  earliest  Catholic  settlers  known  in  Templeton,  we  find  the 
names  of  Patrick  O’Brien,  James  Walsh,  Michael  and  James  Kelley,  and 
William  Sullivan.  In  1853  Father  Gibson  began  the  building  of  St.  Martin’s 
church.  It  was  dedicated  in  1854,  and  the  first  Mass  was  said  therein  by 
Father  Gibson.  A cross  was  put  upon  the  church  before  the  dedication,  and 
a short  time  afterwards  this  cross  was  cut  down  by  the  Know-Nothings. 
With  the  spring  of  1855,  Rev.  Edward  Turpin  came  as  curate,  and  Mass  was 
said  more  frequently.  From  February  to  the  June  of  1857  Mass  was  celebrated 
every  fortnight  in  St.  Martin’s  church.  In  January,  1856,  Father  Turpin 
became  the  pastor  of  Fitchburg,  and  his  brother.  Father  Henry  Turpin,  was 
made  his  curate.  During  his  curacy.  Father  Henry  Turpin  said  Mass  every 
fortnight  at  Otter  River.  The  people  increased  in  numbers  so  rapidly  that  in 
1864  Otter  River  was  made  a parish  by  itself,  and  Rev.  Thomas  H.  Bannon 
became  the  first  resident  pastor.  He  had  charge  of  Otter  River  and  the  sur- 
rounding country.  Immediately  on  assuming  charge,  he  bought  a house 
close  by  the  new  school-house,  and  resided  therein  during  his  whole  term 
here.  He  said  Mass  every  second  Sunday,  the  alternating  Sunday  being 
given  to  the  missions.  He  was  transferred  to  Blackstone  in  1867,  and,  on  the 
nth  of  May  of  that  year.  Rev.  William  Orr,  now  of  Cambridge,  came  as  his 
successor.  The  parish  missions  then  embraced  Otter  River,  Gardner,  Ash- 
burnham,  Hubbardston,  Royalston,  Westminster,  Petersham  and  Orange. 
Father  Bannon’s  house  was  his  personal  property;  on  the  coming  of  Father 
Orr,  therefore,  a new  residence  was  obtained  nearer  to  the  church.  Father 
Orr  remained  but  two  years,  when  he  was  succeeded,  June  4,  1869,  by  Rev. 
Richard  P.  Donovan,  who  in  turn  was  followed  in  November,  1870,  by  Rev. 
Patrick  McManus.  In  August,  1871,  Father  Patrick  McManus  was  made 
pastor  of  Greenfield,  and  Rev.  Charles  McManus  came  as  his  successor.  He 
in  turn  was  followed  by  Rev.  Robert  Walsh,  now  pastor  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception  in  Worcester,  who  came  in  October,  1872.  The  present  parochial 
residence,  across  the  street  from  the  church,  was  built  by  Father  Walsh 
during  his  pastorate  here.  Rev.  Joseph  Coyne  came,  October,  1873,  to  replace 
Father  Walsh,  who  was  promoted  to  Worcester,  and  remained  until  his 
death,  1885.  Rev.  Thomas  F.  Murphy  was  then  called  by  the  bishop  from 
his  curacy  at  North  Adams  to  Barre,  and  he,  too,  died  suddenly  one  year  later, 
in  the  spring  of  1887.  Rev.  Thomas  Reynolds  was  then  appointed  to  Father 
Murphy’s  place;  he  died  in  the  summer  of  1889.  Father  Reynolds,  during 
his  administration,  made  considerable  repairs  upon  the  church.  Rev.  James 
Norris  came  in  August,  1889,  to  replace  Father  Reynolds,  and  was  promoted 
four  years  after  to  the  pastorate  of  West  Fitchburg.  His  successor  was  Rev. 
Thomas  E.  Purcell,  now  pastor  at  Turner’s  Falls.  In  October,  1898,  Father 
Prendregast  succeeded  Father  Purcell. 

Father  Purcell’s  administration  was  active.  Immediately  upon  taking 
charge,  he  repaired  and  fitted  up  the  parochial  residence.  The  next  year  he 
lifted  St.  Martin’s  church,  and  placed  under  it  a brick  basement,  also  put  in 
new  floors  and  a new  altar,  placed  windows  above  the  altar,  and  painted  and 
frescoed  the  interior  of  the  church.  This  done,  he  beautified  the  whole  prop- 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


211 


erty  by  grading  about  the  church,  putting  in  walks,  and  making  sightly 
all  the  approaches. 

Barre. — The  town  of  Barre,  named  after  Colonel  Barry,  an  Irish  mem- 
ber of  the  British  Parliament,  who  was  kindly  disposed  towards  the  Ameri- 
cans during  the  Revolution,  has  amongst  its  Revolutionary  inhabitants  the 
names  of  several  Irish  people. 

The  first  Mass  was  said  in  Barre  by  Father  Fitton  something  like  sixty- 
two  years  ago.  It  was  said  in  the  home  of  Mrs.  Mary  Garland,  grand- 
mother of  Rev.  Edward  F.  Martin,  now  pastor  of  Athol.  Father  Fitton 
came,  during  his  residence  at  Worcester,  twice  a year.  Father  Gibson  did 
the  same  during  his  pastorate,  as  did  Father  Edward  Turpin,  of  Fitchburg, 
in  turn.  The  Jesuits  of  Holy  Cross  College  now  and  then  lightened  the 
burden  of  the  missionary  priests  by  coming  in  their  stead,  as  did  Father 
Quan,  of  Webster,  in  1858.  Father  Quan  built  the  first  church  in  Barre, 
whicli  he  called  St.  Joseph’s,  in  1858.  It  was  originally  a brick  building, 
that  had  served  successively  as  tenement  house,  store  and  school-house.  This 
was  burned  to  the  ground.  May  5,  1896,  and  was  replaced  immediately  by 
the  present  new  St.  Joseph’s.  This  latter  is  a wooden  building,  resting  upon 
foundation  walls  of  brick,  and  is  considered  by  all  who  have  seen  it  a very 
neat  and  substantial  village  church.  It  is  built  in  old  Gothic  style.  It  was 
dedicated  October  25,  1896,  by  Rt.  Rev.  Thomas  Beaven.  Rev.  James  Boyle, 
of  Ware,  preached  the  dedication  sermon.  It  stands  a fitting  monument  to 
Father  Purcell’s  pastoral  zeal. 

The  priest  came  once  a month  to  Barre  in  1862,  When  Father  T.  H. 
Bannon  became  pastor  of  Otter  River,  the  attendance  was  more  frequent. 
April  I,  1868,  Barre  was  made  a mission  of  Ware,  and  thus  remained  until  the 
year  1868,  when  it  was  transferred  to  the  parish  of  North  Brookfield.  Father 
Turpin  and  Father  Smith  said  Mass  regularly  in  turn  here.  Barre  reverted  to 
the  care  of  Otter  River  in  1871,  while  Father  Charles  McManus  was  pastor, 
and  it  has  thus  remained  a mi.ssion  since.  While  Father  Walsh  was  pastor  at 
Otter  River  he  began  the  preparation  of  plans  for  a church  in  Barre,  but  his 
removal  to  Worcester  prevented  the  plans  maturing.  Between  the  burning  of 
old  St.  Joseph’s  and  the  completion  of  the  new.  Mass  was  said  in  the  town  hall. 

The  windows  in  the  new  church  were  presented  to  the  parish.  The 
chancel  window  was  given  by  the  Rev.  Robert  Walsh,  of  Worcester,  and 
others  were  given  by  Fathers  Denis  Scannell,  of  Worcester,  J.  F.  McDermott 
and  A.  E.  Eangevin,  of  Gardner,  and  Luke  Purcell,  of  Fitchburg. 

In  the  first  thirty  years  of  the  parish  life  there  were  1942  baptisms  and 
395  marriages.  No  special  record  was  kept  of  conversions,  though  there 
were  several. 

There  were,  in  1853,  about  one  hundred  Catholics  in  Otter  River,  and 
the  same  number  in  Barre.  There  is  no  record  of  how  many  there  were  in 
the  surrounding  villages,  with  the  exception  of  South  Royalston,  wherein  in 
1846  Father  Gibson  reports  three  hundred  “ railroad  men.”  It  is  safe  to  say 
that  the  vast  majority  of  these  moved  on  with  the  building  of  the  railroads. 
That  same  year  he  reports  in  Barre  “ forty  farmers.” 


212 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


The  property  of  the  parish  consists  of  a church,  a parochial  house  and 
barn  in  Otter  River,  St.  Joseph’s  new  church  and  cemetery  in  Barre,  and  a 
small  cemetery  in  the  town  of  Hubbardston. 

The  Catholic  people,  who  now  number  upwards  of  one  thousand,  as 
described  by  Father  Purcell  in  1898,  “are  law-abiding  citizens  and  indus- 
trious. Socially,  many  are  the  equals  of  their  neighbors.  Politically,  their 
influence  is  scarcely  noticeable.”  The  majority  of  them  are  of  Irish  blood. 

The  pastor.  Rev.  James  Prendergast,  was  born  in  Holden.  He  made  the 
full  course  of  his  classics  at  Holy  Cross  College,  and  then  entered  the  Grand 
Seminary  of  Montreal,  where  he  completed  his  theological  studies.  He  was 
ordained  at  the  Cathedral  December  19,  1885.  As  curate  he  did  duty  at 
Easthampton,  Blackstone,  Clinton,  Hinsdale  and  Millbury,  where  he  was 
laboring  when  made  pastor  of  Otter  River.  Father  Prendergast  is  young, 
strong  and  energetic.  He  inherits  considerable  business  capacity.  He  has 
proved  himself  capable  in  the  works  of  the  ministry,  and  in  the  management 
of  affairs  that  fall  within  the  lines  of  a priest’s  duty. 

ST.  ROCH’S  CHURCH, 

Oxford. 

Mission. — St.  Alc  /sius’  Church,  Rochdale. 

IN  May,  1886,  Oxford  was  made  a parish,  and  was  given  as  first  resident 
pastor  Rev.  Charles  Boylan.  Before  this  it  was  attended  from  Webster. 
In  1855  the  first  Mass  said  in  Oxford  was  offered  up  by  Father  Meig- 
neault  in  the  home  of  Michael  Twoomey,  “ which  then  stood  side  of  the  railway 
about  a mile  and  a half  from  the  station.”  There  were  then  about  three  hun- 
dred souls  in  Oxford,  two  hundred  of  Irish  lineage  and  one  hundred  French 
Canadians.  When  the  place  was  made  a parish  there  were  a thousand  souls, 
equally  divided  between  the  Irish  and  French.  To-day  Oxford  and  North 
Oxford  have  nine  hundred  souls,  two  hundred  and  fifty  are  of  Irish  blood,  six 
hundred  and  fifty  of  French,  In  Rochdale,  the  mission,  there  are  two  hun- 
dred of  Irish  blood  and  one  hundred  French. 

From  the  foundation  of  the  parish  to  January,  1898,  there  were  476  bap- 
tisms and  1 22  marriages.  No  especial  record  has  been  kept  of  conversions  from 
Protestantism,  and  only  one  up  to  1 898  has  come  to  the  notice  of  the  pastor. 

Oxford  has  St.  Roch’s  church,  a parochial  residence,  a stable  and  a ceme- 
tery. North  Oxford  has  a church  with  the  basement  finished,  and  two  and 
one-half  acres  of  land  surrounding  it.  Rochdale,  the  mission,  has  a church 
and  stable. 

St.  Roch’s  church  was  built  by  Father  Meigneault,  in  1856.  It  cost  eight 
thousand  dollars.  He  said  Mass  regularly  in  the  new  church  for  the  two 
years  following  its  building.  When  Father  Quan  came  the  people  had  Mass 
every  second  Sunday,  and  this  obtained  until  lie  was  given  an  assistant  in  1 867, 
from  which  time  forward  the  people  had  Mass  every  Sunday,.  Father  Quan 
moved  the  church  from  its  original  site  to  its  present  location,  added  to  it 
and  made  many  repairs  and  alterations.  Two  years  later  he  bought  a ceme- 
tery of  sixteen  acres. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


213 


During  Father  Boy  Ian’s  pastorate  he  decorated  St.  Roch’s  church,  and 
put  in  stained  glass  windows.  He  organized  it  into  a parish,  and  brought  back 
many  who  had  grown  careless  in  the  faith.  He  was  very  active  in  the  admin- 
istration of  the  people’s  spiritual  affairs.  When  Father  Boylan  was  promoted 
to  Pittsfield  in  1893,  Rev.  Martin  Murphy,  then  pastor  of  Cordaville,  was  sent 
here  in  his  stead.  Father  Murphy  put  steam  heat  in  the  church  and  house, 
drew  the  people  closer  to  the  church,  and  had  everything  in  excellent  condition 
when  promoted  to  Great  Barrington,  January,  1895.  Father  Hafey  came  to 
this  place  January  3,  1895.  In  September,  the  year  of  his  coming,  he  raised 
and  remodeled  the  parochial  residence. 

St.  Anne’s  church  in  North  Oxford  was  built  by  him.  It  is  ninety-four 
feet  long  and  fifty-six  feet  wide.  S.  C.  Earle,  of  Worcester,  was  the  architect, 
and  Twoomey  & Shea,  of  Holyoke,  the  builders.  The  church  will  seat  five 
hundred  people.  The  foundation  work  was  commenced  September  12,  1896. 
The  first  Mass  was  said  in  the  basement  by  Rev.  Patrick  F.  Hafey  on  Christ- 
mas day  that  same  year.  The  church  was  dedicated  by  Bishop  Beaven  the 
last  day  of  May  the  year  following.  Rev.  P.  J.  Harkins,  of  Holyoke,  was 
celebrant  of  the  Mass,  Rev.  John  Madden,  P.  R.,  deacon,  and  Rev.  John  F. 
Fagan,  of  Springfield,  sub-deacon.  The  sermon  in  English  was  preached  by 
Dr.  P.  J.  Garrigan,  of  the  Catholic  University,  and  the  French  sermon  by  Rev. 
John  E.  Donnelly,  of  Montreal,  Canada. 

St.  Roch’s  church  in  Oxford  will  seat  five  hundred  and  fifty  people.  It 
is  a frame  building,  resting  on  a stone  foundation. 

About  sixty-five  years  ago  Mass  was  said  in  Rochdale  by  Father  Fitton 
for  the  men  engaged  in  the  building  of  the  railroad.  The  people  of  the  town 
went  to  Leicester  for  Mass  during  the  time  of  Father  Gibson’s  attendance  there, 
and  while  Leicester  was  a mission  attached  to  Webster.  From  1858  to  1869 
the  same  place  was  under  the  care  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers  from  the  college.  In 
1869  Father  Ciampi  built  the  church  of  St.  Polycarp.  The  people  who  came 
to  it  were  attended  by  Father  Ciampi  until  1871,  by  Fathers  J.  B.  O’ Hagan  and 
Albert  Peters,  until  August,  1872,  Father  Hamilton  until  August,  1873,  and 
Father  Blenkinsop  thenceforward  until  August,  1880.  Father  David  Mc- 
Grath, now  of  Holyoke,  was  then  made  the  first  resident  pastor  of  Leicester, 
and  assumed  charge  of  Rochdale.  Father  McGrath  remodeled  the  little 
church  of  St.  Aloysius,  and  expended  upon  the  work  about  five  hundred  dol- 
lars. It  is  a frame  building  on  stone  foundations,  and  will  seat  three  hundred 
people.  In  1891  Rochdale  became  attached  as  a mission  to  Oxford. 

Rev.  Patrick  Hafey,  the  present  pastor,  was  born  in  Whately,  Mass.,  on 
St.  Patrick’s  day,  i860.  He  passed  through  the  public  schools  of  South  Hadley 
Falls,  and  made  his  classical  course  afterwards  at  St.  Therese  College  near  Mon- 
treal ; theology  he  studied  in  the  Grand  Seminary  of  Montreal,  where  he  was 
ordained  on  the  i8th  day  of  December,  1886.  He  was  stationed  at  Fitchburg 
two  years,  and  was  locum  tenens  at  South  Hadley  for  six  months.  From 
Fitchburg  he  went  to  the  Sacred  Heart  church  in  Worcester  for  half  a year. 
He  was  then  sent  to  St.  Jerome’s,  Holyoke,  where  he  served  four  years.  He 
had  served  fifteen  months  at  Leominster  when  the  bishop  called  him  to  Oxford. 


214 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Father  Hafey,  speaking  of  the  people  who  make  up  his  parish,  says: 
“ They  are  mostly  mill  operatives  or  farmers.  They  have  very  little  political 
influence,  though  this  year  (1898),  for  the  first  time,  one  of  our  people  has 
obtained  a place  on  the  board  of  selectmen.  The  old  bigotry  which  was 
marked  in  Oxford  and  the  surrounding  towns  has  changed  of  late  years,  and 
the  intercourse  between  Catholics  and  Protestants  is  as  it  should  be  between 
neighbors.  There  are  twelve  school  teachers  in  the  town  ; four  of  them  are 
Roman  Catholics,  three  of  whom  are  natives  of  St.  Roch’s  parish.” 


ST.  MARY’S  CHURCH, 

SOUTHBRIDGE. 

(5  I HE  old  pioneer.  Rev.  James  Fitton,  as  far  as  certain  records  prove,  was 
^ I the  first  priest  to  visit  Southbridge  and  say  Mass  for  the  Catholics. 

This  Mass  was  said  in  the  home  of  Mr.  Seery,  then  overseer  of  the 
Hamilton  Woolen  Company’s  mills,  some  time  in  1840.  The  house  yet 
stands,  and  is  occupied  by  four  Catholic  families.  It  is  still  owned  by  the 
Hamilton  Woolen  Company,  and  is  situated  on  the  corner  just  opposite  from 
the  “old  boarding  house  in  Brick  Row.”  There  were  a dozen  Catholics 
present  at  the  Mass,  seven  of  whom  were  of  Irish  lineage,  and  the  other  five 
German  or  French.  Father  Fitton  came  thenceforward  to  1843.  Father 
Williamson  came  in  1844,  and  after  him  came  Father  Gibson,  in  1845.  The 
next  year  Father  Logan,  S.J.,  who  was  professor  of  rhetoric  at  Holy  Cross 
College,  came  to  the  people  at  more  frequent  intervals.  He  was  the  first 
priest  to  say  Mass  in  Southbridge  on  the  Sundays.  The  congregation 
assembled  in  a little  white  school  house,  and  this  was  continued  for  three  or 
four  years  afterwards.  Father  John  Boyce,  of  St.  John’s  church,  Worcester, 
said  Mass  for  two  months  in  the  town  hall  or  in  the  South  school-house. 
Then  for  a few  months  more  he  said  it  in  the  house  of  Mrs.  Jager,  whose  two 
sons,  Joseph  and  James,  yet  living,  were  the  servers.  The  pastor  has  been 
able  to  take  from  the  records  the  following:  “At  a special  meeting  of  the 
Catholics  of  this  village  and  vicinity,  held  in  the  South  school-house  on 
Sunday,  May  18,  1852,  Rev.  John  Boyce  in  the  chair,  it  was  proposed  and 
unanimously  resolved  that  immediate  means  be  taken  for  the  erection  of  a 
Catholic  church  in  this  village ; also  voted  that  James  Cummins  and  Patrick 
Kelley  be  appointed  collectors,  and  they  are  thereby  authorized  and  fully 
empowered  to  receive  contributions  for  said  church.”  This  James  Cummins 
was  living  in  the  summer  of  1898,  at  the  age  of  ninety  years,  though  very 
feeble  and  totally  blind.  Mr.  William  Edwards,  a liberal  Protestant  gentle- 
man, gave  the  Catholics  a plot  of  land,  and  on  July  12,  1852,  work  was  com- 
menced on  the  church  under  the  direction  of  Rev.  John  Boyce.  It  was  dedi- 
cated under  the  patronage  of  St.  Peter,  Prince  of  the  Apostles,  on  the  first 
day  of  May,  the  year  following,  by  Rt.  Rev.  John  B.  Fitzpatrick,  assisted  by 
Fathers  Boyce,  L’Eveque,  of  Millbury,  W.  A.  Blenkinsop,  of  Chicopee,  and 
P.  J.  Blenkinsop,  S.J.,  of  Holy  Cross  College.  On  the  same  day  the  Rt. 
Rev.  Bishop  Fitzpatrick  blessed  the  Catholic  cemetery.  Charge  of  the  new 
church  and  land,  by  request  of  Bishop  Fitzpatrick,  was  assumed  by  Rev. 

II— 51 


Rt.  Rev.  Mgr.  G.  ELZ  BROCHU,  P.A. 


Rev.  P,  F.  HAFEY. 


Rev.  a.  M.  CLEMENT. 


Rev.  CHAS.  IMcMANUS. 


iiv 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


215 


Peter  Blenkinsop,  SJ.  In  October  of  the  year  following  Father  Blenkinsop 
was  succeeded  in  its  care  by  Rev.  Peter  Kroes,  S.J.,  who  in  turn  was  fol- 
lowed, July,  1856,  by  Rev.  J.  C.  Moore,  SJ.  In  September,  1857,  Rev.  P.  M. 
Folchi,  SJ.,  had  the  care  of  the  congregation  for  a year.  During  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  three  Jesuits  last  named.  Father  Blenkinsop  came  occasionally, 
as  did  also  Fathers  De  Meastri,  Mulledy,  McMullan  and  Ciampi,  of  Holy 
Cross.  Father  Meigneault,  of  Webster,  and  Father  D’Eveque,  of  Millbury, 
came  now  and  then  within  the  same  period.  It  may  be  of  interest  to  recall 
just  here  that  the  organ  in  old  St.  Peter’s  church  was  purchased  by  Father 
Blenkinsop,  and  by  him  put  into  the  church.  Father  Kroes  selected  it,  and 
had  it  built  according  to  his  own  plans  by  Albert  Gemunder,  of  Springfield 
It  cost  $650.  In  September,  1858,  Rev.  James  Quan  succeeded  Father  Meig- 
neault as  pastor  in  Webster,  and  he  arranged  with  the  Jesuits  to  exchange 
the  mission  of  Southbridge  for  that  of  Spencer,  as  he  could  more  conveniently 
attend  to  the  former  as  they  could  to  the  latter.  Thenceforward  Father 
Quan  attended  to  the  wants  of  the  parish  until  September  ii,  1865,  when 
Rev.  Angelus  M.  Baret  was  made  the  first  resident  pastor.  When  South- 
bridge  was  made  a parish  Charlton  and  Sturbridge  were  placed  under  its  care 
as  missions.  November  10,  1869,  Dr.  Baret  was  transferred  to  the  new  parish 
of  Grafton,  and  as  his  successor  came  Rev.  James  J.  McDermott.  One  year 
later  Father  McDermott  was  made  first  rector  of  the  cathedral  at  Springfield, 
and  Rev.  J.  M.  Kremmin  came  in  his  stead.  For  sixteen  years  Father  Krem- 
min  was  pastor  of  Southbridge,  and  the  missions  of  Fiskdale  and  Charlton, 
and  during  that  time  he  worked  alone.  Shortly  after  his  coming  the  presby- 
tery was  burned  to  the  ground.  He  thereupon  moved  St.  Peter’s  church 
across  the  place  where  the  rectory  stood  to  the  corner  lot  adjoining.  Then 
he  built  the  present  rectory,  graded  the  whole  estate  and  beautified  it  with 
shrubs  and  trees.  He  built  the  present  St.  Mary’s  church  on  the  site  of  the 
old  St.  Peter’s.  The  new  church  is  a frame  building  resting  on  granite 
foundations,  and  seats  twelve  hundred  people.  He  built  a small  church  in 
Fiskville,  which  is  now  used  by  the  English-speaking  Catholics.  Another 
church,  built  at  the  same  time  by  Rev.  G.  E.  Brochu,  accommodates  the 
French-speaking  people  of  the  same  place.  In  1885  Father  Kremmin  began 
to  fail  in  strength,  and  was  sent  Rev.  John  F.  Nelligan  as  assistant.  July 
18,  1886,  Father  Kremmin  died,  and  after  the  burial,  until  the  appointment 
of  his  successor.  Father  Nelligan  remained  in  charge  of  the  parish. 

The  present  pastor.  Rev.  John  Drennan,  speaking  of  Father  Kremmin, 
says  : “ He  had  been  for  so  many  years  in  the  midst  of  his  people  that  he  had 
become  thoroughly  identified  with  the  sorrows  and  joys  of  every  family.  His 
death  was  a dreadful  afiiiction  to  every  one  of  his  congregation.  They  had 
learned  to  look  up  to  him  as  their  leader,  and  whenever  the  spiritual  or  tem- 
poral necessities  of  his  congregation  called  for  vindication  he  never  failed  to 
be  a fearless  and  successful  champion.”  Warm  as  his  words  are  they  hardly 
cover  Father  Kremmin  as  priests  and  people  knew  him.  He  was  tall,  of  open 
countenance,  with  curling  fair  hair  and  blue  eyes.  He  had  a strong,  graceful 
figure,  lithe  and  supple  as  a leopard’s.  His  old  pastor.  Father  Foley,  has  told 


216 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


the  writer  more  times  than  one,  that  Father  Kremmin  had  power  in  his  arms 
sufficient  to  twist  a horseshoe.  Father  Kremmin  loved  the  open  air,  the  woods, 
and  the  sports  that  manly  men  enjoy.  It  was  well  known  that  Father  Kremmin 
would  not  be  stayed  in  the  performance  of  his  duty  by  any  bully  or  body  of 
bigots.  The  sight  of  his  agile  figure  made  men,  who  noisily  abused  his 
church,  silent  until  he  passed.  He  was  many-sided.  His  judgment  of  pictures, 
books,  and  the  fine  objects  of  art  was  equal  to  any  man’s  within  the  confines 
of  our  diocese.  In  fact  it  may  be  questioned  if  any  other  man’s  was  as  good. 
He  was  universally  regretted.  The  day  of  Father  Kremmin’ s funeral  the 
business  of  the  town  was  suspended,  and  the  gates  of  the  factories  closed.  A 
great  body  of  priests  from  every  end  of  New  England,  with  the  bishop  at 
their  head,  was  present.  Rev.  Christopher  McGrath  of  Somerville,  a friend 
of  the  dead  pastor,  preached  the  funeral  sermon.  Where  he  sleeps  before  the 
door  of  his  church  the  people  have  raised  a monument  whereon  an  excellent 
bust,  making  durable  the  head,  face  and  shoulders  of  him  they  loved,  is  placed. 

In  the  September  following  his  death.  Rev.  James  Donahoe,  now  pastor 
of  Westfield,  took  charge  of  the  church.  B'ather  Donahoe  substantially 
reduced  the  parish  debt,  and  converted  the  old  St.  Peter’s,  which  was  then 
used  as  a hall,  into  a parochial  school  building.  These  alteiations  cost  up- 
wards of  two  thousand  dollars.  About  the  same  time  he  purchased  a dwelling 
house  on  Edward  street  (the  Dr.  Bullfinch  estate).  This  he  made  into  a 
presbytery,  and  later  gave  to  the  seven  sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  who  at  his  call 
came  in  1889  to  teach  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  children  of  his  parish.  Sister 
Hilary  was  the  superior.  Adjoining  the  school-house  was  a large  tract  of  land 
which  he  purchased  and  added  to  the  parish  possessions.  He  paid  the  Hamil- 
ton Woolen  Company  one  thousand  dollars  for  this.  By  this  purchase  he 
placed  the  church  property  on  the  front  and  sides  of  three  streets  ; and  with 
the  French  church  property  at  the  rear  the  whole  place  is  now  sightly  and  con- 
venient. Five  acres  of  land  was  also  purchased  for  a cemetery,  but  on  account 
of  lack  of  drainage  it  was  found  unserviceable  for  cemetery  purposes.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1891,  Father  Donahoe  was  promoted  to  Westfield  by  Bishop  O’Reilly, 
and  Rev.  John  B.  Drennan,  then  pastor  of  Amherst,  was  named’ his  successor. 

Shortly  after  his  coming  Father  Drennan  put  the  Edward  Street  pro- 
perty into  proper  condition  for  a convent,  and  moved  back  into  the  old  rec- 
tory adjoining  the  church.  “At  this  time,’’  he  says,  “began  an  era  of 
privation  and  poverty  for  the  parish.  The  Hamilton  Woolen  Mills,  wherein 
the  greater  part  of  the  congregation  depended  for  support,  were  shut  down 
entirely.  Much  of  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  laboring  class  sought  employ- 
ment in  other  localities.”  In  order  to  avert  greater  evils  a mortgage  of  one 
thousand  dollars  was  raised  on  the  church,  and  this  money  was  used  in  the 
payment  of  “ men  with  families,”  who  were  engaged  by  the  priest  to  rebuild 
the  walls  about  the  parish  grounds,  and  to  make  general  repairs  around  the 
property.  By  this  act  a large  number  of  the  heads  of  families  were  enabled 
to  remain  in  their  old  homes.  In  1893  the  pastor  erected  a commodious  hall 
for  his  temperance  society.  It  contained  a gymnasium,  assembly  room,  and 
reading  room.  A tract  of  land  was  purchased  in  1895  for  seven  hundred  dol- 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


217 


lars  from  A.  J.  Bartholew,  and  after  expending  six  hundred  more  in  engineer 
fees,  laying  out,  clearing  up  and  grading  the  property,  he  made  an  excellent 
new  cemetery. 

From  December,  1892,  until  July,  1896,  Rev.  Michael  A.  Griffin  was 
assistant  in  this  parish.  He  was  then  succeeded  by  Rev.  Denis  Mullens, 
who  is  still  on  duty.  The  mission  of  Charlton,  up  to  1895,  was  visited  every 
fortnight,  but  since  that  time  the  people,  half  of  whom  are  French  Canadians, 
have  a Mass  every  Sunday. 

In  1858  there  were  850  people  of  Irish  lineage,  and  500  of  French  lineage 
in  South  bridge;  Charlton  had  140,  Sturbridge  73,  and  Fiskdale  no,  making 
1673  Catholics  within  the  parish.  During  the  “panic  times'’  of  1857  one- 
half  of  the  Fiskdale  Catholics  left  town.  In  1865  the  Catholics  in  the  three 
towns,  Sturbridge,  Charlton  and  Southbridge,  numbered  two  thousand.  In 
1893  the  entire  population  of  Southbridge,  according  to  the  census  of  1897, 
was  eighty-three  hundred  people,  and  of  that  number,  965  English-speaking 
Catholics  belonged  to  St.  Mary’s  parish. 

Up  to  January,  1898,  the  baptismal  registers  show  2891  christenings, 
and  the  marriage  records  867  unions.  No  especial  record  has  been  kept  of 
conversions  until  within  the  last  three  years,  in  which  period  there  have  been 
three  adults  baptized,  who  are  “ still  faithful.” 

The  parish  property  consists  of  St.  Mary’s  church,  a pastoral  residence, 
a school,  a convent,  a cemetery,  and  five  acres  of  arable  land.  St.  Mary’s 
parochial  school  is  under  the  charge  of  seven  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph.  It  has 
the  ordinary  nine  grades,  and  has  one  hundred  and  sixty  pupils  in  attend- 
ance. Since  the  coming  of  Father  Drennan  to  the  parish  he  has  repaired, 
improved  and  ornamented  much  of  the  parish  property.  Mr.  Patrick  Phelan 
and  wife,  in  memory  of  their  two  dead  daughters,  presented  the  church,  a 
few  years  ago,  a sanctuary  lamp,  a brass  crucifix  and  two  large  brass  chande- 
liers. The  church  bell,  which  was  blessed  by  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Beaven,  is  the 
gift  of  Mr.  Henry  Whittaker,  in  memory  of  his  wife. 

Rev.  John  B.  Drennan  was  born  in  Worcester  County,  February  6,  1853. 
He  passed  through  the  Worcester  public  schools,  and  after  a short  time  spent 
at  Howe’s  Business  College,  began  in  1869  the  study  of  classics  in  St.  Charles’ 
College,  Baltimore.  He  completed  his  theological  course  in  St.  Mary’s  Sem- 
inary the  same  city,  and  was  there  ordained  December  20,  1879.  He  was  at 
once  made  curate  to  Father  Scannell  in  Worcester,  and  remained  there  seven 
and  one-half  years,  the  whole  period  of  his  curacy.  He  was  made  pastor  at 
Amherst  in  1887,  and  came  to  Southbridge  in  September,  1891.  Father 
Drennan  is  a tall,  slender  man,  and  has  gentle  and  companionable  ways.  He 
possesses  an  excellent  voice,  and  has  marked  musical  taste.  He  has  been 
much  beloved  by  all  the  people  he  has  served. 

Speaking  of  the  people  Father  Drennan  says,  “The  Catholics  of  St. 
Mary’s  parish  have  always  stood  in  the  front  rank  of  the  industrious  and 
respectable  people  of  this  town.  The  early  Catholic  settlers  here,  as  else- 
where, were  most  self-sacrificing  and  loyal ; and  that  faith  which  they  helped 
to  propagate  here  is  still  dear  to  their  children  and  grand-children.” 


218 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


CHURCH  OF  NOTRE  DAME  (French), 

SOUTHBRIDGH. 

WHEN  Rev.  Dr.  Baret  was  made  pastor  of  Grafton,  and  Father  Mc- 
Dermott came  in  his  stead,  the  French-Canadians  of  Southbridge 
were  organized  into  a parish  with  Rev.  M.  F.  Le  Breton  the  first 
resident  pastor.  He  built  the  church  of  Notre  Dame.  The  first  Mass  said 
for  these  people  as  a separate  congregation  was  celebrated  in  Edward’s  Hall, 
November,  1869,  by  Father  Ee  Breton.  The  people  met  here  until  the  com- 
pletion of  their  church  in  1870,  in  which  the  first  Mass  was  celebrated  on 
Christmas  Day.  Rev.  George  Elz.  Brochu,  while  on  a vacation  in  this  dio- 
cese, was  asked  by  Bishop  O’Reilly  to  replace  Father  Ee  Breton,  who  was 
about  to  take  a trip  to  Europe.  Father  Brochu  came  the  15th  day  of  March, 
1873,  and  has  been  in  Southbridge  ever  since.  On  his  coming  the  debt  of  the 
parish  was  ten  thousand  dollars.  He  erected,  in  1878,  the  schools  of  Notre 
Dame  at  a cost  of  twenty-three  thousand  dollars.  Two  years  afterwards  he 
added  to  it  space  for  a convent,  at  an  additional  expense  of  two  thousand  dol- 
lars more.  The  schools  were  opened  on  September  i,  1882,  with  five  hundred 
pupils  under  the  direction  of  nine  Sisters  of  St.  Anne.  In  1890  the  Sisters 
of  St.  Anne  were  replaced  by  the  Sisters  of  the  Assumption  from  Nicolet, 
who  now  number  twelve,  and  have  care  of  seven  hundred  and  forty  pupils. 

The  present  year  (1899)  there  is  in  course  of  construction  a school-house 
in  brick  with  terra-cotta  trimmings,  which  will  cost  on  completion  about  forty 
thousand  dollars.  This  structure  will  have  all  the  modern  improvements, 
and  will  consist  of  twelve  class-rooms,  a large  hall  for  scholastic  purposes, 
and  a lightsome  and  dry  basement,  which  will  be  utilized  as  a gymnasium 
with  baths  and  all  the  conveniences  that  go  with  modern  institutions  of  this 
kind.  It  will  be  called  E’Academie  Brochu,  in  honor  of  Mgr.  Brochu,  who 
promises  to  build  it  from  his  private  purse.  The  present  school  will  then  be 
made  the  convent  home  of  the  sisters.  Four  years  ago  Mgr.  Brochu  pur- 
chased the  Marcy  Estate,  whicli  is  said  to  be  the  finest  site  in  the  town  of 
Southbridge.  It  then  cost  ten  thousand  dollars;  it  is  said  to  be  worth  more 
than  twice  that  sum  now.  For  some  time  the  pastor  has  been  financially  able 
to  build  on  this  estate,  but  on  account  of  an  unfortunate  condition  in  the  sale 
he  is  prevented  from  doing  so.  The  old  man  who  sold  the  land  to  the  priest 
insisted  upon  being  allowed  to  occupy  his  old  home  until  his  death.  He  is  of 
a great  age,  but  he  loves  the  world,  therefore  the  rector  of  Notre  Dame  must 
patiently  wait  his  going.  In  anticipation  of  the  right  to  use  the  land  he  has 
plans  made  by  a Canadian  architect  which  calls  for  a magnificent  church  of 
marble,  which  is  estimated  will  cost  two  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  pas- 
tor reports  in  the  bank,  drawing  interest  for  this  purpose  in  August,  1899,  one 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  dollars.  The  present  church  of  Notre  Dame 
is  a frame  building  capable  of  seating  thirteen  hundred.  It  rests  on  a founda- 
tion of  brick,  and  cost  four  thousand  dollars.  A short  time  ago  Mgr.  Brochu 
bought  eighteen  acres  of  land  on  a high  point  overlooking  the  town,  which 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


219 


is  to  be  made  into  a new  cemetery  and  named  in  honor  of  his  patron  saint,  St. 
George’s  cemetery. 

The  curates  of  this  parish  have  been : Antoine  A.  Tamy,  January  6, 
1 88 1,  to  March  lo,  1882;  P.  U.  Brunelle,  from  April  4,  1882,  to  May  20,  1882; 
C.  Gireant,  from  July  10,  1882,  to  August  25,  1883;  Joseph  M.  Rioux,  from 
September  15,  1883,  to  June  30,  1884;  D.  Diagnaud,  from  September  i,  1884, 
to  February  i,  1885;  N.  Raiuville,  from  April  i,  1885,10  May  i,  1885;  Jules 
Graton,  from  July  15,  1885,  to  September  i,  1886;  J.  Edward  Graton,  from 
May  15,  1887,  to  April  i,  1891 ; Joseph  M.  A.  Genest,  from  April  i,  1891,  to  Jan- 
uary 5,  1894;  L.  A.  Langlois,  from  January  5,  1894,  and  who  is  at  present  the 
curate,  also  J.  H.  Desrochers,  from  August  3,  1894,  and  who  is  still  in  the  parish. 

When  this  parish  was  formed  it  had  within  its  lines  three  thousand  souls. 
There  are  now  upwards  of  six  thousand,  three  thousand  five  hundred  of  whom 
are  communicants.  Since  the  foundation  of  the  parish  in  1870  to  December, 
1898,  there  have  been  991  marriages,  4,728  baptisms. 

On  the  nth  day  of  July,  1887,  the  Holy  Father  conferred  upon  Father 
Brochu  the  title  of  Monsiguor,  with  the  rank  of  Camerarius,  and  May  16, 
1890,  this  dignity  was  increased  by  the  title  of  Prothonotary  Apostolic.  This 
latter  dignity  gives  Father  Brochu  the  title  of  Rt.  Rev.  Monsignor,  and  was 
conferred  by  the  Holy  Father,  proprio  motu. 

Rt.  Rev.  George  Elz.  Brochu  was  born  at  St.  Anselm,  Dorchester  County, 
P.  Q.,  October  2,  1842.  In  his  fourteenth  year  he  entered  the  Seminary  of 
Quebec,  and  nine  years  later  finished  his  seminary  course  at  Montreal.  He 
was  ordained  a priest  the  9th  day  of  August,  1868,  by  Mgr.  Ignace  Bourget, 
and  was  appointed  professor  at  the  College  of  Terrebonne.  He  was  made 
curate  at  St.  Polycarp’s  church  iii  1869,  and  two  years  later  was  transferred 
to  the  diocese  of  Montreal,  and  there  made  chaplain  of  the  Brothers  of  Charity. 
In  1873  he  came  to  the  diocese  of  Springfield.  Mgr.  Brochu  is  a strong  man, 
who  possesses  marvelous  control  over  his  people  and  the  affairs  of  his  parish. 
No  parish  in  the  diocese  is  better  managed  than  his;  though  the  road  for  him 
has  not  always  been  strewn  with  roses.  His  hand  was  heavy  on  his  people 
at  the  beginning,  and  a great  deal  of  opposition  to  him  was  awakened ; some 
were  not  slow  to  use  personal  violence  if  opportunity  was  given,  and  his  house 
has  been  the  object  of  their  stoning  and  of  other  shameful  attacks.  By  and 
by  the  people  began  to  see  their  error.  He  was  the  ruler, — he  ruled  them 
then  and  he  has  ruled  them  since,  and  it  has  been  to  their  great  happiness 
and  the  good  of  their  families.  He  has  been  generous  to  poor  missions,  and 
in  parish  undertakings  at  home ; and  for  this  he  has  been  rewarded  in  the 
unusual  honor  conferred  upon  him  by  the  Holy  Father. 


CHURCH  OF  OUR  LADY  OF  THE  ROSARY, 

Spencer. 


OMETIME  between  1832  and  1835,  Mr.  Thomas  Forest,  an  Irish 
Catholic,  settled  in  Spencer,  We  cannot  now  learn  at  what  he 
labored.  There  were  a few  men  working  at  the  wire  trade  and 
others  in  the  homes  of  the  wealthy  people.  In  1837,  two  brothers 


220 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


of  Thomas  Forest,  John  and  Richard,  came  to  the  town.  They  worked  on 
the  Western  railroad.  Father  Fitton  tells  us  that  while  the  road  was  being 
built  he  held  a “station”  at  Spencer,  therefore,  sometime  before  1839  the 
men  who  worked  on  the  railroad,  and  who  then  were  temporarily  settled  at 
Spencer,  had  Catholic  services  at  the  hands  of  Father  Fitton.  In  the  spring 
of  1840, Jean  Corbeil,  known  in  the  town  as  John  “Kirby,”  lived  in  the 
“ Yellow  House  ” on  the  Proctor  farm.  John  had  lived  at  Cherry  Valley, 
but  moved  that  year  to  this  town.  These  two  men,  Thomas  Forest  and  Jean 
Corbeil,  were  the  beginning  of  two  great  streams  which  have  sirice  poured 
their  strength  into  the  industrial  life  of  the  town.  John  and  Richard 
Forest,  drawn  by  the  sympathy  of  faith,  lived  with  John  Corbeil.  The  kindly 
union  then  obtaining,  has  existed  between  the  two  races  represented  in 
Spencer  ever  since.  In  the  autumn  of  1843  spring  of  1844,  a number  of 
Canadians  made  a settlement  in  the  town.  At  this  time,  also,  with  the  open- 
ing of  the  railroad  great  bodies  of  Irish  laborers  came,  so  that  in  the  winter 
of  1845  the  people  of  the  Catholic  faith  were  so  numerous  that  Father  Gibson 
felt  obliged  to  go  to  them.  He  assembled  them  for  their  first  Mass  in  what 
for  years  was  known  as  the  “ Hong  House,”  which  was  then  the  property  of 
Allen  Ure.  The  first  record  of  a baptism  is  that  of  Charles  Fontaine  at  the 
hands  of  Rev.  M.  W.  Gibson  in  the  “ Long  House  ” in  1846.  In  1849  some 
of  the  old  residents  say  that  a Mass  was  said  in  the  home  of  John  Canary. 
Up  to  1852  there  was  no  regular  attendance  ; now  and  then  the  people  gathered 
in  the  “ Long  House  ” during  Father  Gibson’s  time.  At  this  period  came  Fa- 
ther L’Eveqne,  and  thenceforward  he  called  them  into  the  old  Town  House, 
and  there  had  services. 

In  the  autumn  of  1852  regular  meetings  were  held,  confessions  heard  and 
communion  given  in  the  home  of  Aleck  Bouvier  at  the  corner  of  Chestnut  and 
Temple  streets.  Just  then  the  Catholics  of  Leicester  invited  those  of  Spencer  to 
assist  them  in  the  building  of  a church  at  Leicester,  but  the  people  at  home 
could  not  quite  see  the  wisdom  of  this.  Led  by  the  example,  however,  they 
began  at  once  preparations  for  a new  church  for  themselves.  Diflferent  sites 
were  examined  and  rejected  by  Father  L’Eveque.  Among  the  sites  was  one 
offered  as  a free  gift  by  Jeremiah  Early,  but  the  land  upon  which  the  presby- 
tery now  stands  commended  itself  to  the  better  judgment  of  Father  L’Eveque, 
and  was  purchased  by  him  from  Lorenzo  Livermore,  March  7th,  1853.  It 
cost  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  Father  L’Eveque,  accompanied  by  some 
of  the  parishioners,  examined  the  old  Methodist  church.  Some  declared  it 
too  large,  others  about  the  proper  size;  Father  L’Eveque  alone  said  it  was  too 
small.  He,  therefore,  began  the  building  of  a frame  church  larger  than  the 
Methodist  church  in  the  early  summer  following  the  purchase  of  the  land. 
The  work  progressed  so  rapidly  that  on  the  afternoon  of  Rosary  Sunday, 
1853,  which  is  the  first  Sunday  in  October,  the  corner-stone  was  laid  with 
appropriate  services.  Before  the  ceremony  the  people  gathered  together  in 
the  town  hall,  then  filed  in  procession  after  their  pastor  to  the  church  site. 
Bishop  Fitzpatrick  of  Boston  delegated  Father  L’Eveque  to  bless  the  corner- 
stone. The  parish  was  put  under  the  especial  protection  of  the  mother  of 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


221 


God,  under  the  title  of  the  Queen  of  the  Most  Holy  Rosary.  During  the 
winter  of  1853  and  the  early  spring  of  1854  the  work  of  the  superstructure 
was  carried  on,  so  that  the  congregation  were  able  to  use  their  new  church 
during  the  month  of  May.  The  church  was  sixty-two  feet  by  thirty-eight, 
and  could  seat  four  hundred  and  twenty.  Father  L’Eveque  then  met  with  a 
sore  trial.  Many  of  the  Catholic  people  in  order  to  help  him  in  the  building 
of  the  church  had  mortgaged  their  properties.  Unable  to  meet  their  obliga- 
tions when  the  work  was  done,  they  were  forced  by  Barnes  and  Mullock,  the 
contractors,  to  dispose  at  public  auction  of  all  their  property  to  pay  the  debt, 

The  church  was  dedicated  on  the  first  Sunday  of  October,  1854,  by  Right 
Rev.  P.  T.  Fitzpatrick,  Bishop  of  Boston,  assisted  by  Revs.  James  Fitton, 
John  Boyce,  Edward  Sheridan  and  Father  E’Eveque.  After  the  dedication 
of  his  church,  Father  E’Eveque  resigned  his  pastorate  and  for  a year  col- 
lected up  and  down  through  the  country  money  enough  to  pay  back  what 
the  good  Catholics  of  Spencer  had  lost  in  their  effort  to  help  him  build  God’s 
house.  He  returned  the  following  year  with  what  he  had  gathered.  He 
paid  as  far  as  this  permitted,  and  then  arranged  that  the  revenues  of  the  little 
church  should  be  used  until  all  the  deficit  was  made  good.  Free  from  all 
responsibility.  Father  E’Eveqne  longed  for  days  of  peace.  He  then  had 
labored  in  the  missions  twenty-three  years,  and  the  missionary  life  at  that 
day  meant  for  the  priest  no  permanent  home,  seldom  a proper  place  of  wor- 
ship, hardly  ever  anything  better  than  the  homes  of  the  poor  to  sleep  in 
with  wretched  facilities  for  travel,  and  yet  journeys  to  be  made  in  every  sea- 
son of  the  year. 

Father  L’Eveque  was  ordained  by  Rev.  Bernard  Claude  Panet,  second 
archbishop  of  Quebec,  on  the  feast  of  the  Epiphany,  January  6,  1831.  For 
some  time  he  labored  in  lower  Canada,  then  for  a while  in  old  France,  where 
he  was  a pastor  for  several  years.  He  returned  to  Canada  and  learned  there 
that  many  of  his  countrymen  had  gone  to  the  States.  He  relinquished  his 
pastorate  in  the  old  land  at  ouce,  and  followed  his  people  into  their  new  homes. 
He  labored  most  of  the  time  in  Worcester  county.  He  was  afterwards,  for 
six  years,  with  the  Trappists  at  Gethsemane,  Kentucky,  but  in  the  autumn 
of  1861  he  came  again  into  Worcester  county,  which  he  so  much  loved.  On 
February  13,  1862,  he  died  in  New  Jersey.  He  was  succeeded  by  Father 
Meigneault,  who  after  the  dedication  in  1854,  as  pastor  of  Webster,  assumed 
the  care  of  Spencer.  He  attended  Spencer  until  December,  1857.  Father 
Quan  succeeded  him  in  August,  1858,  and  some  time  after  assuming  the 
pastoral  care  he  made  an  offer  to  the  Jesuit  priests  of  Holy  Cross  College 
to  exchange  the  mission  of  Southbridge  for  that  of  Spencer.  The  Jesu- 
its thenceforward  attended  Spencer  regularly  until  January,  1871.  In 
Father  Meigneault’ s time  the  first  Catholic  cemetery  was  opened,  and  the  body 
of  Michael  Mead  was  the  first  interred.  His  children  were  afterwards  buried 
with  him.  This  was  on  February  20,  1857.  Amongst  the  priests  who  attended 
this  place  from  Holy  Cross  College  were  Rev.  J.  C.  Moore,  Rev.  Charles  Kelley 
and  Rev.  Thomas  Sheerin.  Father  Sheerin  planned  the  building  of  a new 
church  in  1864,  but  the  scheme  fell  through,  owing  to  the  lack  of  co-operation 


222 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


on  the  part  of  the  people.  In  September,  1864,  came  Father  Vigilante.  He 
purchased  a new  cemetery,  and  in  1867  erected  a transept  and  a vestry  in 
addition  to  the  church.  In  January,  1872,  Spencer  was  made  a parish,  and 
Rev.  Julius  Cosson  came  as  its  first  resident  pastor.  In  1853,  "when  the  first 
land  was  bought,  there  were  one  hundred  Catholic  people  in  the  town,  but 
when  the  parish  was  organized  in  1872,  Spencer  had  within  its  lines  twenty- 
five  hundred.  For  the  first  few  months  after  his  coming  Father  Cosson  lived 
in  two  rooms  over  the  church  vestry.  Next  he  lodged  on  Chestnut  street. 
Some  mouths  later  he  bought  a small  strip  of  land  running  along  Prospect 
street,  and  extending  from  the  old  cemetery  to  the  new  one.  On  this  he  built 
the  new  rectory.  He  was  living  in  the  house  in  September,  1872.  In  May, 
three  years  later,  he  secured  another  piece  of  land  on  the  south  side  of  Pros- 
pect street,  and  in  January,  1879,  bought  a house  and  land  adjoining  the  west- 
ern end  of  the  church  property.  With  the  coming  of  Father  Cosson  began 
a new  life  in  the  parish.  He  was  a sincere  and  just  man,  was  candid  of  speech 
and  honorable  in  act.  He  made  few  friends  because  of  his  very  honesty,  but 
those  to  whom  he  gave  his  heart  remained  beloved  to  the  end.  Father  Cosson 
died  July  25,  1878.  During  the  nine  years  of  his  pastorate  he  had  been  ex- 
tremely successful.  He  was  succeeded  two  days  after  his  death  by  Rev. 
Thomas  Beaven,  now  bishop  of  Springfield,  who  had  been  his  assistant  in 
Spencer  since  January  25th,  three  years  before. 

The  new  pastor  began  at  once  to  make  plans  for  a new  church.  In  1882 
he  purchased  from  Andrew  Cormack  a piece  of  land  adjoining  that  which  was 
purchased  by  Father  Cosson  seven  years  before.  He  moved  the  old  church 
on  to  this  lot,  and  began  on  the  site  of  old  St.  Mary’s  the  excavations  for  the 
new.  Ground  was  broken  in  August  that  same  year.  The  foundations  of  the 
new  church  were  begun  the  first  of  May,  1883.  The  corner-stone  was  laid 
August  5th,  that  same  year,  and  the  exterior  walls  were  up  and  the  building 
roofed  in  the  following  December.  The  church  cost  in  construction,  marked 
in  detail,  as  follows ; Brick  work,  above  water-table,  $8^00 ; woodwork  and 
slating,  $17,430  ; stone  trimmings,  $5300;  interior  woodwork,  $8400;  plaster- 
ing, $4800;  interior  decoration,  $2000;  heating,  $2000;  making  a total  of 
$48,630. 

This  church,  which  is  of  Gothic  architecture,  is  one  hundred  and  forty- 
five  feet  long  and  sixty-two  feet  wide.  The  transept  measures  eighty  feet  long 
by  thirty-three  feet  wide.  It  was  dedicated  on  Rosary  Sunday,  1887,  by  Rt. 
Rev.  P.  T.  O’Reilly.  The  Solemn  Pontifical  High  Mass  was  celebrated  by 
the  same  bishop,  assisted  as  arch-priest  by  Rev.  James  Hughes,  vicar-general 
of  the  diocese  of  Hartford,  and  Rev.  P.  J.  Harkins  and  Rev.  T.  J.  Conaty  as 
deacons  of  honor.  The  deacons  of  the  Mass  were  Rev.  James  Boyle  and  Rev. 
M.  F.  Delaney.  The  masters  of  ceremony  were  Rev.  B.  S.  Conaty  and  Rev. 
John  F.  Lee.  The  sermon  at  the  Mass  was  preached  by  Rev.  R.  S.  J.  Burke, 
of  Worcester.  The  sermon  at  the  Solemn  Vespers  in  the  evening  was  by  Rev. 
P.  A.  McKenna,  of  Marlboro. 

On  the  26th  of  December  the  parish  was  divided,  and  Rev.  C.  R.  Viens, 
who  for  some  time  had  been  an  assistant  with  Father  Beaven,  was  appointed 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


223 


rector  of  the  new  parish  of  French-Canadians.  Within  the  year  following 
the  dedication  of  the  church,  Father  Beaven  was  transferred  to  Holyoke  in 
place  of  Father  Howard,  deceased,  and  Rev.  Garrett  Dolan,  then  rector  of  the 
cathedral  at  Springfield,  came  as  his  successor,  December  5,  1888. 

The  curates  here  have  been  Rev.  John  B.  Daly,  from  June,  1872,  to  Jan- 
uary, 1873;  Father  Hubert  for  a short  time  ; Rev.  T.  D.  Beaven,  from  Jan- 
uary 6,  1876,  to  October  14,  1888;  Rev.  J.  F.  Lee,  from  August,  1879,  to 
March,  1883;  Rev.  B.  S.  Conaty,  from  March,  1883,  until  his  transfer  to 
Gardner  ; Rev.  Charles  Viens,  from  May  22,  1885,  until  his  appointment  as 
pastor  of  the  French-speaking  people,  in  December,  1886. 

The  baptisms  in  this  parish  from  the  founding  up  to  January,  1898,  were 
3,586,  and  the  marriages  619. 

The  people  number  fourteen  hundred  souls.  They  are  mostly  of  the 
laboring  class,  and  are  employed  in  the  shops,  in  trades,  and  on  the  neighbor- 
ing farms.  They  stand  well  in  the  community,  and  have  some  power  in 
politics.  One  of  them  is  a selectman  and  another  superintendent  of  streets. 

Father  Dolan,  the  pastor,  was  born  in  Worcester,  March  4,  1849,  and 
received  his  early  training  at  the  public  schools  of  that  city.  He  studied 
classics  at  St.  Charles’  College,  Maryland,  and  later  passed  two  years  at  Holy 
Cross  College,  wherefrom  he  was  graduated  in  1878.  His  theological  course 
was  made  at  the  Grand  Seminary  of  Montreal.  He  was  ordained  September 
24,  1881,  in  St.  John’s  church,  Worcester.  After  ordination  he  was  made 
assistant  at  the  cathedral  in  Springfield.  He  became  rector  of  the  same  in 
1886,  and  was  here  on  duty  when  made  pastor  of  Spencer.  Father  Dolan  has 
been  very  energetic  in  his  pastorate.  Up  to  1887  he  had  already  cleared  six 
thousand  dollars  of  the  total  indebtedness.  He  is  a pleasant,  amiable  man, 
and  is  well  liked  by  all  his  people. 

The  parish  of  the  Rosary  has  a church,  a presbytery,  a tenement  house, 
and  a barn. 


ST.  MARY’S  CHURCH  (French), 


Spencer. 


HE  French  people  were  permitted  by  the  bishop,  through  the  advice  of 


Father  Beaven,  then  pastor  of  Spencer,  to  form  a separate  congrega- 


tion, December  26,  1886,  and  Father  Viens,  who  was  then  Father 
Beaven’ s assistant,  was  made  the  first  resident  pastor.  The  first  Mass  for 
these  people  as  a distinct  congregation  was  said  on  the  third  day  of  January, 
1887,  in  the  old  St.  Mary’s  church,  which  had  been  put  at  the  disposal  of  the 
new  congregation  by  the  pastor.  Father  Beaven.  Father  Viens  remained  in 
charge  until  his  death  on  the  12th  day  of  August,  1889.  Father  Lamy  came 
to  succeed  him  that  same  year,  and  is  still  in  charge. 

The  curates  of  this  parish  have  been  Rev.  Alfred  Mansseau,  from  1887  to 
November,  1889;  Rev.  D.  E.  Delage,  from  December,  1889,  to  March  1890; 
Rev.  Henry  Gouin,  from  June  i,  1890,  to  October  of  the  same  year;  Rev. 
Joseph  L.  Desaulniers,  from  October,  1890,  to  April,  1891  ; Rev.  M.  A. 
Desrochers,  from  July,  1891,  to  July,  1893  ; Rev.  Emile  St.  Onge,  from 
August,  1891,  to  November,  1892  ; the  Fathers  of  La  Sallette,  from  January, 


224 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD, 


1894,  to  October  that  same  year;  Rev.  L.  E.  Barry,  from  October,  1894,  to 
January,  1897  ; the  Fathers  of  La  Salette,  from  January,  1897,  to  the  June 
following,  and  Rev.  J.  E.  Chicoine,  from  June,  1897,  and  who  is  still  on 
duty. 

The  people  in  this  parish  in  1887  numbered  forty-four  hundred  souls. 
The  population  now  numbers  three  thousand. 

This  parish  owns  a church,  a school,  a presbytery,  and  a convent  for  the 
Sisters.  Foundations  are  also  in  for  a projected  new  church.  The  schools 
were  opened  in  September,  1892,  when  three  hundred  children  came  to  the 
doors ; now  there  are  five  hundred  and  ninety-three  children  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  nine  Sisters  of  the  Assumption,  whose  superior  is  Sister  Elphege. 

Since  the  foundation  of  the  parish  up  to  January,  1898,  there  have  been 
1632  baptisms,  and  244  marriages.  The  people  of  the  parish  are  of  the 
working  class.  The  majority  of  them  are  employed  in  the  boot  shops,  sev- 
eral are  in  business,  and  a good  proportion  of  them  own  their  own  homes. 

Father  Lamy,  the  pastor,  is  an  energetic  man,  who  uses  a strong  hand  in 
the  control  of  his  people.  Shortly  after  his  coming  he  remodeled  the  old 
church,  and  therein  built  six  school  rooms  of  ample  proportions,  well  lighted 
and  ventilated. 

Rev.  A.  A.  Lamy  was  born  at  Yamachiche,  in  Canada,  July  19,  1844. 
He  first  studied  at  the  Brothers’  school,  and  later,  until  1872,  studied  classics 
at  Nicolet.  He  studied  theology  at  Three  Rivers,  and  was  there  ordained, 
September  19,  1875,  by  Mg^.  Lafleche.  He  spent  five  years  as  curate  in  Can- 
ada. In  September,  1880,  he  came  to  the  United  States,  and  served  as  curate 
at  North  Adams  for  three  months.  Then  he  went  to  Southbridge,  where  he 
remained  until  appointed,  March  27,  1882,  pastor  of  Three  Rivers  ; and,  on 
September  19,  1889,  he  was  promoted  to  the  rectorship  of  Spencer. 

ST.  MARY’S  CHURCH. 

Uxbridge. 

KATHER  Fitton,  in  his  sketches,  says  that  “ Uxbridge,  Blackstone, 
Waterville,  Woonsocket,  and  other  manufacturing  towns  were  attended 
from  Worcester  both  previous  to  and  after  the  completion  of  the  rail- 
road to  Providence  ; ” we  may,  therefore,  infer  that  Mass  had  been  said  by 
him  here  during  his  own  pastorate  at  Worcester,  which  was  between  the 
years  1834  and  1843.  The  first  definite  knowledge  we  have  of  a Mass  was 
one  celebrated  by  Father  McGrath,  who  came  from  Hopkinton  in  1850.  This 
was  said  in  the  home  of  one  of  the  laborers.  Two  other  priests,  whose 
names  we  cannot  now  ascertain,  said  Mass  at  different  times  that  May. 
Father  Farrelly,  of  Milford,  said  Mass  in  a tenement  house,  as  did  Father 
Gibson.  In  the  December  of  1851  Father  Boyce,  of  Worcester,  gathered  the 
people  into  Taft’s  hall.  Rev.  Charles  O’Reilly,  of  Blackstone,  came  here 
once  each  month  thereafter,  and  during  his  time  secured  a lot  of  land  on 
which  the  church  now  stands.  He  laid  the  foundation  of  St.  Mary’s  church. 
In  August,  1853,  Rev.  Edward  Sheridan  came  as  resident  pastor,  having  as 
missions  Millbury,  Grafton,  Northbridge  and  Douglas.  Immediately  upon 


Rev.  M.  H.  KITTREDGE. 


Rev.  peter  S.  O’REILLY. 


Rev.  .M.  a.  O'SULLIVAN. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


225 


his  coming,  he  completed  the  church,  which  was  dedicated  in  August,  1855, 
by  Rev.  Bishop  Fitzpatrick.  Father  Peter  Blenkinsop,  of  Holy  Cross  Col- 
lege, sang  the  Mass,  and  Father  Mullady,  S.  J.,  of  the  same  college,  preached 
the  sermon.  Thomas  Grimes,  E.  J.  Kelley  and  James  Daley,  still  living, 
were  altar  boys  on  that  occasion.  John  Kelley  was  the  sexton  the  day  of  the 
dedication,  and  up  to  1898  was  sexton  still,  yet  during  the  fifty  years  of  his 
sextonship  he  had  been  absent  but  twice  from  his  post. 

In  May,  1867,  Rev.  Denis  O’Keefe  succeeded  Father  Sheridan,  and  held 
control  until  1868,  when  Father  Denis  Moran  was  made  pastor,  and  served 
until  August,  1871.  Rev.  Henry  E.  Robinson  came  then,  and  was  with  the 
people  until  1889,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Sullivan. 

Father  Moran  built  the  present  rectory,  and  Father  Robinson,  shortly 
after  his  coming,  raised  the  same,  fenced  it  about,  and  made  considerable 
improvements.  This  was  in  June,  1876.  He  repaired  and  decorated  St. 
Mary’s  church,  at  a cost  of  twenty-five  hundred  dollars.  He  also  put  into 
the  tower  a chime  of  thirteen  tubular  bells. 

Father  Thomas  Sullivan,  who  was  very  much  beloved  by  his  people,  for 
whose  spiritual  good  he  had  done  a great  deal,  died  Sunday,  December  1 1 , 
1898.  He  had  been  ailing  for  a year  or  more,  but  just  theu  was  concerned 
with  preparations  for  the  celebration  of  the  silver  jubilee  of  his  ordination 
into  the  holy  priesthood.  A sudden  and  severe  attack  necessitated  his 
removal  from  his  home  to  the  Sisters’  hospital  at  Worcester.  He  grew  rapidly 
worse  there,  and,  after  being  prepared  for  his  death,  which  he  calmly  faced, 
went  to  God  in  the  presence  of  his  friends  and  of  the  priests,  who  consoled 
him.  Father  Sullivan  was  born  in  Worcester,  and  received  in  that  city  his 
early  education.  He  was  graduated  from  the  high  school  in  1866.  He  then 
studied  at  Holy  Cross  College  for  a period  of  three  years,  and  after  that  at  the 
University  of  Ottawa,  Canada.  He  was  ordained  a priest  after  the  regular 
course  of  theology  at  the  Grand  Seminary  of  Montreal,  December  20,  1873. 
His  first  station  as  assistant  was  to  Rev.  Thomas  Smyth,  with  whom  he 
labored  four  years  and  a half  He  was  then  appointed  to  the  pastorate  of 
Palmer  in  1878,  and  stayed  there  until  1889,  when  promoted  to  Uxbridge. 
At  Uxbridge,  as  at  Palmer,  he  effected  many  beneficial  changes  ; and,  by  his 
faithful  attention  to  duty,  won  the  good-will  of  his  own  people,  and  the 
respect  of  his  Protestant  neighbors. 

When  Father  Sullivan  died  the  bishop  said  his  Requiem  Mass,  assisted 
by  Rev.  Deuis  Scannell  of  Worcester,  Rev.  Daniel  Cronin  of  Hinsdale,  and 
Rev.  M.  H.  Kittredge  of  Millville,  with  a great  body  of  other  priests.  The 
day  of  the  funeral  the  general  business  of  the  town  was  suspended.  Schools 
were  closed,  and  the  towns  people  turned  out  to  do  the  dead  priest  every  honor. 

He  was  at  once  succeeded  by  Rev.  Maurice  A.  O’  Sullivan,  who  is  still 
the  rector. 

The  people  of  the  parish,  who  are  mostly  of  Irish  blood,  number  more 
than  fifteen  hundred.  From  the  record  of  the  first  baptism,  August  26,  1853, 
to  January  i,  1858,  we  count  781;  and  from  the  first  marriage,  August  8, 
1853,  to  January  i,  1858,  197  marriages.  The  records  between  1858  and  1867 


226 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


are  lost.  From  1867  to  January,  1898,  there  are  2,737  baptisms  and  649  mar- 
riages. No  special  record  of  converts  has  been  kept  before  the  coming  of 
Father  Thomas  Sullivan.  During  his  pastorate  there  have  been  three,  and 
these  have  been  good  so  far  as  known. 

The  parish  has  a church,  a parochial  house,  a stable  and  a cemetery. 

The  people  of  the  parish  stand  well  with  their  neighbors  in  business  and 
social  life,  but  their  political  influence  is  very  slight.  The  majority  of  the 
people  are  of  the  laboring  class,  most  of  whom  work  in  the  factories. 

The  present  pastor.  Rev.  Maurice  A.  O’Sullivan,  was  born  in  Ireland,  1834, 
and  was  ordained  at  Rochester,  N.  Y.  He  came  to  the  diocese  of  Spring- 
field  in  1880.  He  was  a curate  in  North  Adams,  Dee  and  Worcester.  He  was 
pastor  of  Williamston  and  Deerfield,  at  which  latter  place  he  was  laboring 
when  promoted  to  Uxbridge. 

ST.  PAUD’S  CHURCH, 

Warren. 

Leather  FITTON  held  a “station  ” at  Warren  while  the  western  rail- 
|U  road  was  being  built  through  that  town.  Inasmuch  as  the  road  was 
opened  for  travel  on  the  first  day  of  October,  1839,  it  is  certain  that 
religious  services  must  have  been  held  before  that  date.  Local  tradition  says 
Mass  w’as  celebrated  by  Father  Fitton  in  1838  in  a “ railroad  boarding-house.” 
With  the  building  of  the  road  there  is  some  trace  of  services  performed  by 
Father  John  Brady,  of  Hartford,  and  his  cousin  Rev.  John  D.  Brady,  of 
Chicopee.  It  is  certain,  too,  that  Father  Dougherty,  of  Springfield,  and  Fr. 
Migneault,  of  Webster,  afterwards  attended  the  people  in  Warren.  The 
priests  who  visited  here,  we  are  told,  were  not  always  welcomed  by  the 
original  settlers.  It  is  said  that  one  of  the  priests  above  named  was  hooted 
at,  and  even  stoned  as  he  passed  through  the  village,  and  was  positively 
refused  quarters  at  the  hotel.  There  is  also  a tradition,  whieh  we  are 
not  able  to  authenticate,  that  one  of  the  earliest  Masses  was  said  at  mid- 
night in  the  year  1854.  In  the  meanwhile  the  Catholic  population  had 
grown,  and  the  regular  attendance  of  a priest  was  necessary.  That  year  the 
people  were  asked  to  procure  a place  for  services  larger  than  the  private 
homes  wherein  the  priest  up  to  this  time  had  been  celebrating  Mass.  Daniel 
Healy,  then  a man  of  influence  in  the  town,  and  who  had  been  from  the 
thirteenth  year  of  his  age  at  work  on  the  farms  about  Warren,  offered  to 
procure  the  town  hall.  On  account  of  the  bigotry  shown  in  the  town  his 
neighbors  doubted  his  ability  to  do  this.  He  did,  however,  procure  the  town 
hall,  but  only  after  giving  a bond  of  one  thonsand  dollars  that  no  injury 
would  be  done  the  building.  The  next  Mass  was  said  in  the  town  hall. 
This  Daniel  Healy  is  thought  to  have  been  the  first  Catholic  resident  of 
Warren.  Close  to  his  coming,  however,  arrived  Richard  Birmingham,  Julia 
Lydon,  Cornelius  Cronin,  Patrick  Burns,  James  Donahoe  and  Bartholomew 
Lydon.  It  is  very  pleasant  to  note  that  every  one  of  these  is  yet  (1899)  alive 
and  in  vigorous  health.  When  Father  Gagnier  became  pastor  of  the  French- 
speaking  people  in  Ware  he  took  upon  himself  the  care  of  Warren  as  a mis- 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


227 


sion.  The  building  known  as  the  “old  church”  was  then  a granary.  He 
purchased  it  in  1872,  and  remodeled  it  for  Catholic  services.  This  same 
building  has  been  enlarged  since  then  and  has  served  the  people  for  twenty- 
four  years. 

In  December,  1872,  Warren  was  made  a parish,  and  Rev.  A.  Romano 
was  made  the  first  resident  pastor.  He  remained  until  August  27,  1876,  on 
which  date  Rev.  D.  Moyes  became  his  successor.  Father  Moyes  was  here 
until  October  26,  1892.  He  repaired  the  old  church  and  bought  land  for 
future  needs.  In  1890  he  prepared  the  foundations  for  a new  church,  and 
put  in  the  stone  foundation.  In  1896,  when  it  appeared  that  the  people’s 
convenience  required  another  site,  this  foundation  work  was  abandoned. 
Rev.  John  F.  Madden  succeeded  Father  Moyes  October  26,  1892.  In  De- 
cember, 1893,  he  in  turn  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  D.  F.  McGillicuddy.  Upon 
the  promotion  of  Father  McGillicuddy  to  Worcester  Rev.  John  F.  Leonard 
was  named  his  successor.  He  came  September  1 1,  1895.  The  year  following 
he  purchased  the  present  parochial  residence,  and  also  a site  for  a new  church. 
He  began  the  building  of  this  church  at  once.  Its  corner-stone  was  laid  on 
the  first  Sunday  of  November,  1896,  by  Rt.  Rev.  Thomas  Beaven,  of  Spring- 
field.  The  basement  was  dedicated  for  services  on  the  first  Sunday  of  Sep- 
tember, one  year  later.  The  people  yet  worship  in  the  basement. 

The  curates  who  have  served  in  this  parish  : Revs.  James  H.  Kelley, 
from  May  i,  1881,  to  August  12th,  that  same  year;  Charles  Grace,  from 
August  21,  1881,  to  January  i,  1882;  P.  S.  O’Reilly,  from  June  i,  1884,  to 
August  I,  1885;  L.  N.  Moslet,  from  September  3,  1885, to  June  i,  1888; 
J.  J.  Tirrell,  from  August  i,  1888,  to  January,  1890;  William  F.  Grace,  from 
February  i,  1890,  to  July,  1890;  L.  J.  Cai.sse,  from  February  i,  1891,  to 
August,  1892;  T.  J.  Fitzgerald,  from  February,  1892,  to  July,  1893;  and 
J.  E.  Meehan,  from  July,  1893,  to  January,  1894. 

At  the  formation  of  the  parish  there  were  about  eight  hundred  souls,  but 
at  the  time  of  the  division  (1872)  there  were  twenty-four  hundred.  St.  Paul’s 
parish  to-day  has  about  eight  hundred  Catholics.  The  majority  of  them  are 
of  Irish  blood,  though  there  are  ninety  French  Canadians,  twenty  Poles  and 
eight  Germans  among  them. 

From  the  founding  of  the  parish  up  to  January,  1898,  there  were  1245 
baptisms,  180  marriages  on  the  records.  No  especial  record  has  been  kept  of 
converts  from  Protestantism. 

The  parish  now  has  a parochial  residence,  a fine  new  church  with  base- 
ment complete.  The  old  church  and  other  pieces  of  property  the  pastor 
intends  to  sell  and  apply  the  proceeds  to  the  new  church. 

The  people  of  the  parish,  as  a rule,  are  poor,  and  work  in  the  mills, 
the  shops,  or  on  the  farms  for  their  livelihood.  The  pastor  says  that  there  is  a 
fair  representation  of  them  in  business,  but  that  socially  and  politically  the 
influence  of  the  people  is  less  than  the  twenty-six  years  of  parish  life  and 
nearly  fifty  years  of  priestly  attendance  would  seem  to  warrant.  He  regrets, 
also,  that  no  young  man  of  the  parish  has  ever  made  a complete  college 
course,  nor  has  any  young  woman  from  the  town  embraced  the  religious  life. 


228 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Father  Leonard  is  a zealous,  hard-working  priest,  who  gives  his  best  days 
and  efforts  to  his  people.  He  has  given  years  to  total  abstinence  work,  and  his 
name  and  reputation  for  this  kind  of  effort  are  known  throughout  the  diocese. 

Father  Leonard  was  born  in  Clinton,  and  studied  in  the  Clinton  schools, 
and  afterwards  at  Ottawa  College.  His  theology  was  made  at  the  Grand 
Seminary  of  Montreal,  where  he  was  ordained.  He  was  an  assistant  at  Hol- 
yoke and  Westfield  before  being  made  the  pastor  of  Warren. 

ST.  THOMAS’  CHURCH, 

West  Warren. 

WEST  WARREN  was  cut  off  from  St.  Paul’s  parish,  Warren,  in 
December,  1893,  and  Rev.  Humphrey  J.  Wren  was  made  the 
first  resident  pastor.  Father  Wren  remained  until  August,  1899, 
when  Father  Trottier  was  appointed  in  his  stead.  Father  Gagnier,  while  at 
Ware,  said  the  first  Mass  in  West  Warren  July  23,  1871,  in  a small  hall  over 
the  post  office.  There  were  thirty-two  families  of  Irish  origin,  and  thirty  of 
French  Canadian,  in  West  Warren  at  that  time.  The  land  upon  which  Father 
Gagnier  afterwards  built  the  church  was  a gift  from  a Protestant  gentleman 
named  Crossman.  The  present  church  in  West  Warren  is  a brick  structure. 

Father  Moyes  during  his  pastorate  made  many  needed  repairs  upon  this 
church,  and  added  to  it  more  than  half  its  original  length.  He  built  a gal- 
lery within,  put  in  an  altar  and  the  church  organ.  He  made  an  embank- 
ment before  the  church,  drained  the  basement,  put  in  apparatus  for  steam 
heating  and  built  the  small  frame  residence. 

The  people  of  St.  Thomas’  parish  are  of  the  same  class  as  those  of  the 
mother  parish,  St.  Paul’s.  On  account  of  business  depression  during  the  past 
few  years  the  whole  town  has  lost  more  than  five  hundred  of  its  Catholic 
inhabitants.  St.  Thomas’  has  lost  its  share.  The  parish  now  includes  400 
souls.  The  majority  of  the  people  in  West  Warren  are  of  French  lineage. 

The  new  pastor,  Father  Trottier,  was  born  March  19,  1866,  at  St.  Helene, 
P.  Q.,  was  educated  in  the  public  school  of  Taftville,  Conn.,  and  at  St. 
Hyacinthe  College,  P.  Q.,  and  ordained  there  July  12,  1891.  He  served  as 
curate  at  North  Brookfield  till  August  31,  1899.  During  his  curacy  there 
he  gained  the  respect  of  the  pastor  and  people  by  his  loyalty.  When 
leaving  for  his  new  church  he  was  presented  with  suitable  presents  by  the 
people  of  the  parish  where  he  had  served. 

There  have  been,  from  the  formation  of  the  parish  up  to  January,  1898, 
19 1 baptisms  and  49  marriages. 

The  parish  has  a church  in  brick,  and  a rectory  in  wood. 

ST.  LOUIS’  CHURCH, 

Webster. 

IT  is  said  by  the  oldest  residents  of  Webster  that  as  early  as  1834  Father 
Fitton  came  here  from  Hartford  on  a sick  call.  The  first  Mass  was  cele- 
brated some  time  in  1844,  and  very  likely  by  Father  A.  Williamson, 
for  the  records  of  Worcester  County  say  that  the  Catholics  in  this  district 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


229 


were  attended  from  Worcester,  and  at  that  time  Father  Williamson  was  the 
pastor.  This  Mass  was  said  in  that  partof  the  town  called  “ Merino  Dudley.” 
In  1847  Father  IvOgan,of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  coming  from  Holy  Cross  College, 
Worcester,  looked  after  the  interests  of  the  Catholic  people  all  along  the  line 
to  Norwich.  After  his  death  at  New  London  in  1850,  this  same  work  was 
done  by  Rev.  Peter  Blenkinsop  of  the  same  college.  Twice  each  year  during 
the  Worcester  pastorate  of  Father  Gibson,  Mass  was  said  here  either  by  Father 
Gibson  or  Father  Secci,  S.  J.  Father  Blenkinsop  was  afterwards  given  the  care 
of  all  the  Catholics  along  this  line,  and  he  said  Mass  somewhat  more  frequently 
in  a hall  engaged  for  that  purpose  until  the  erection  of  St.  Louis’  church  in 
1851.  The  corner-stone  of  this  church  was  laid  September  2d  that  same 
year  by  Bishop  Fitzpatrick.  The  church  measures  one  hundred  feet  by  fifty. 
The  excavations  had  been  made  by  the  men  of  the  parish  after  their  day’s 
work.  Father  Gibson  superintended  the  work  of  construction,  though  Father 
Blenkinsop  attended  most  of  the  time  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  people.  In 
1853  Webster  was  made  a parish  by  itself,  and  Rev.  Napoleon  Meigneault  came 
as  first  resident  pastor.  He  lodged  with  the  Thompson  family  for  half  a year, 
then  in  the  home  of  Mr.  Carney,  yet  standing  to  the  west  of  the  church  lot. 
St.  Louis’  church  when  completed  in  1853  had  cost  eight  thousand  dollars. 
Rev.  John  Boyce,  of  Worcester,  was  empowered  by  the  bishop  to  dedicate  it. 
Two  years  after  the  dedication,  a bell  was  procured,  blessed  and  swung  in  thy 
church  tower.  Father  Meigneault’s  charge  extended  over  the  stations  of 
Spencer,  Southbridge,  O.xford,  Charlton,  Templeton,  Barre,  Warren  and  the 
Brookfields.  He  was  young,  with  indomitable  courage,  faithful,  energetic, 
and  capable  of  the  severest  labors.  His  name  is  yet  held  by  the  people  of  the 
missions  in  greatful  remembrance.  He  was  succeeded  August  31,  1858,  by 
Father  Quan.  Father  Quan  found  two  thousand  Catholics  to  look  after.  They 
had  come  with  the  building  of  the  roads,  the  erection  of  factories,  and  for  work 
in  the  factories  and  on  the  farms.  They  had  grown  very  numerous  in  the  years 
preceding  the  coming  of  Father  Quan.  The  first  Catholics  were  nearly  all  of 
Irish  blood,  with  a fair  sprinkling  of  Germans.  In  1844  when  the  first  Mass 
was  said,  and  in  the  early  fifties  a small  hall  still  sufficed  for  their  needs. 
To-day  the  Catholics  of  St.  Louis’  parish  number  more  than  twenty-one  hun- 
dred souls.  Father  Quan  took  up  the  great  burden  of  work  where  Father 
Meigneault  laid  it  down.  Shortly  afterward  he  was  obliged  to  add  to  it.  In 
the  spring  of  1864  he  bought  for  six  hundred  dollars  fourteen  and  three- 
quarter  acres  of  land,  the  whole  of  which  he  was  to  use  for  burial  purposes. 
He  bought  this  of  the  Dixon  family.  This  cemetery  was  blessed  by  Fathers 
Power  and  O’Reilly,  of  Worcester,  who  were  delegated  with  proper  faculties 
November  25th  of  that  same  year.  Two  years  later,  at  an  expense  of  twenty 
thousand  dollars.  Father  Quan  doubled  the  seating  capacity  of  the  church, 
and  by  an  outlay  of  seven  thousand  five  hundred  more  he  built  the  parish 
rectory,  which  is  now  used  as  a convent  by  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph.  Four 
years  after  this  he  built  a wing  to  the  east  end  of  the  main  building,  which 
was  blessed  as  the  chapel  of  St.  Patrick.  In  1882  he  opened  parish  schools 
in  the  basement  of  the  church  and  in  a building  on  the  south  side  of  Negus 


230 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


street,  and  brought  to  the  care  of  the  school  six  sisters  of  the  order  of  St. 
Joseph,  with  Sister  St.  Joseph  as  superior.  This  was  the  last  day  of  August 
of  that  same  year.  For  two  thousand  dollars  he  bought  the  Amadou  estate, 
directly  opposite  the  church,  and  the  cottage  standing  on  the  property  he 
made  into  a convent  for  the  Sisters.  In  1893  under  his  direction  was  built 
the  fine  school  building  on  Negus  street.  It  opened  in  September  of  that 
year,  and  on  the  7th  day  of  the  next  month  he  died  at  Boston.  He  is  buried 
in  front  of  the  church,  and  a granite  monument,  whereon  is  an  excellent  bust 
of  him,  marks  his  sleeping  place.  Father  Quan  was  gentle  in  the  extreme, 
of  a philosophical  temperament  softened  by  a poetic  turn,  low  voiced  and 
kindly.  For  thirty-five  years  he  labored  in  the  diocese,  and  every  year  the 
love  for  him  grew  in  the  hearts  of  the  priests  and  people.  He  was  of  large 
frame,  was  portly,  and  of  dignified  carriage  ; his  fair  skin,  smooth  and  bright 
even  in  his  old  age,  his  blue  eyes,  and  the  long  gray  hair  falling  on  his  shoul- 
ders, made  him  a handsome  and  venerable  patriarch,  to  whose  knees  the  world 
came  willingly. 

Father  Quan  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  John  T.  Madden,  then  pastor  of  War- 
ren. The  year  after  his  coming  Father  Madden  began  to  remodel  the  old 
church.  Services  meanwhile  were  held  in  the  basement.  The  ceiling  of  the 
old  church  was  removed  and  the  present  graceful  one  put  in.  The  front  of 
the  church  was  changed ; the  organ  gallery  was  also  remodelled.  At  the  same 
time  Father  Madden  built  the  sacristy  back  of  St.  Patrick’s  chapel,  put  in 
boilers  for  heating  the  church  and  convent,  and  built  a sightly  fence  about 
the  rear  of  the  church  grounds.  He  raised  a new  altar  in  the  church,  wired 
it  for  electricity,  and  frescoed  the  interior  of  both  church  and  chapel.  These 
improvements  cost  fourteen  thousand  dollars,  all  of  which  has  been  paid  by 
the  pastor  through  the  assistance  of  the  church  debt  society,  which  he  organ- 
ized before  beginning  the  work  on  the  church. 

St.  Louis’  new  church,  as  it  may  be  called,  was  dedicated  November  15, 
1894,  by  Bishop  Beaven.  Rev.  John  J.  McCoy  preached  the  sermon,  and  Rev. 
John  F.  Redican,  of  Leicester,  who  had  been  for  many  years  a curate  in  the 
parish,  sang  the  High  Mass.  This  church  is  in  brick  and  is  of  Gothic  archi- 
tecture. 

In  addition  to  the  work  done  on  the  church  Father  Madden  has  painted 
the  interior  of  the  convent,  rectory,  and  the  adjoining  buildings.  The  parish 
is  in  excellent  condition  spiritually  and  financially.  The  parochial  school  is 
under  the  care  of  eight  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  who  have  in  their  charge  two 
hundred  and  seventy-five  children. 

The  curates  of  this  parish  have  been  Revs.  John  B.  Purcell,  from  1867  to 
1868  ; Chas.  F.  Grace,  from  1873  to  1877  ; James  Donah oe,  from  1878  to 
1880  ; T.  F.  Murphy,  from  1880  to  1881;  John  F.  Redican,  from  1882  to  1886; 
T.  E.  Purcell,  from  1886  to  1891  ; L.  J.  Derwin,  from  1891  to  1892;  P.  J. 
Griffin,  from  1892  to  1893,  and  P.  J.  O’Malley,  from  1893  and  still  on  duty. 

The  people  of  the  parish  are  spoken  of  by  the  pastor  as  above  the  average 
in  intelligence,  and  have  representatives  in  the  professions  as  well  as  in  the 
town  and  national  government  offices.  There  are  a number  of  merchants 
II — 52 


Rev.  JOHN  B.  DRENNAN. 


Rev.  JAMES  QUAN  (Deceased). 


Rev.  JOHN  T.  ^MADDEN,  P.  R. 


Rev.  S.  TARNOWSKI. 


Rev.  J.  a.  LEGRIS. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


231 


among  them  ; in  fact  the  people  are  well  and  creditably  represented  in  every 
line  of  effort,  and  they  are  rising  prominently  in  social  life. 

Rev.  John  T.  Madden,  the  rector,  was  born  in  Leicester  in  1851.  His  course 
was  marked  with  unusual  success  through  the  public  schools  of  Worcester,  from 
whose  high  school  he  was  graduated  in  1869.  He  passed  with  marked  credit 
the  examinations  for  entrance  to  Harvard,  but  entered  Holy  Cross  College 
instead  in  1872.  He  was  the  leader  of  his  class  all  the  years  of  his  college 
life.  He  entered  Montreal  Seminary,  and  after  some  time  spent  there,  became 
a professor  at  Holy  Cross  for  two  years.  He  completed  his  theology  at  Aix- 
en-Provence,  France,  where  he  was  ordained  to  the  priesthood  in  the  spring 
of  1878.  He  was  curate  at  Uxbridge  three  years.  Turner’s  Falls  three  years, 
and  North  Adams  one  year.  In  1885  he  was  made  pastor  of  West  Stock- 
bridge,  and  after  seven  years  there  was  called  to  Warren.  From  Warren  he 
was  promoted  to  Webster.  Father  Madden  is  one  of  the  best  known  and 
most  respected  of  the  priests  of  our  diocese.  He  is  acknowledged  to  be  a 
very  scholarly  man  even  among  the  most  learned  of  our  priests.  He  has 
excellent  judgment,  is  gentle  and  sympathetic.  He  has  proved  himself  to  be 
possessed  of  splendid  parts. 

The  records  of  this  parish  up  to  January,  1898,  show  5286  baptisms, 
1183  marriages,  and  19  conversions  from  Protestantism. 

The  parish  owns  a church,  presbytery,  convent,  school  building,  several 
tracts  of  land  in  the  central  part  of  the  town,  whereon  these  buildings  stand, 
and  a cemetery  of  upwards  of  twelve  acres. 

SACRED  HEART  CHURCH  (French), 

Webster. 

(5  I HE  French-speaking  people  of  Webster  had  grown  sufficiently  numer- 
^ I ous  in  November,  1869,  to  warrant  their  wisdom  in  organizing  a par- 
ish of  their  own.  They  then  counted  up  1700.  With  the  bishop’s 
permission  they  purchased  from  H.  N.  Slater,  for  $4000,  the  old  Methodist 
church  in  East  Webster,  and  were  sent  early  next  year,  as  their  first  resident 
pastor.  Rev.  Father  Cosson,  who  had  been  until  then  a member  of  the  Ob- 
late Order  in  Lowell.  Father  Cosson  was  their  pastor  close  to  one  year, 
when  he  was  sent  to  Spencer,  January  12,  1871,  and  was  succeeded  at  once 
by  Rev.  A.  A.  Landry.  Father  Landry,  at  an  expense  of  $20,000,  began  the 
building  of  a frame  church  on  Day  street.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  with 
appropriate  services  in  June,  1884.  July  9th,  one  year  later.  Father  Landry 
died,  and  on  the  26th  day  of  August,  that  same  year,  was  succeeded  by  his 
brother.  Rev.  H.  Landry,  who  was  until  then  pastor  of  Indian  Orchard.  The 
week  of  his  coming  the  convent  was  dedicated.  In  June,  1887,  he  was  pro- 
moted to  Holyoke,  and  the  present  rector.  Rev.  J.  Agapit  Legris,  came  on 
the  2 1st  of  the  same  month  to  his  place.  When  Father  Legris  came  the 
parish  debt  was  $18,600,  and  this  was  paid  in  1893.  Early  in  1895  he  began 
the  building  of  the  church  on  east  Main  street.  The  corner-stone  was  laid 
May  26th,  that  same  year,  and  the  first  IMass  was  celebrated  therein  July  19, 
1896.  This  church  was  dedicated  to  God  under  the  title  of  the  Sacred  Heart 


232 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


by  Bishop  Beaven  on  Labor  Day,  1896.  The  eloquent  Bishop  Da  Fleche 
preached  the  sermon  on  this  occasion. 

The  church  was  designed  by  Heroux  of  Quebec.  It  is  built  of  Canadian 
granite,  and  is  145  feet  long  by  65  wide.  It  has  a chapel  in  the  transept 
50  feet  by  36.  The  church  will  seat  1200,  while  the  chapel  will  seat  200 
more.  The  church  is  very  beautiful  in  outline,  and  is  profusely  ornamented 
with  gold.  It  is  said  that  gold  leaf  to  the  value  of  $4000  has  been  spent  in 
this  ornamentation.  While  the  church  was  being  built,  Father  Legris 
also  superintended  the  erection  of  the  present  commodious  and  well-appointed 
rectory.  Both  stand  on  the  same  lot. 

Father  Degris,  the  present  pastor,  was  born  at  Riviere  du  Doup,  Quebec, 
May  21,  1842.  He  made  his  classics  at  Nicolet,  and  was  ordained  to  the 
priesthood  September  23,  1866.  He  was  seventeen  years  the  pastor  of  Three 
Rivers,  Canada,  when,  on  account  of  ill  health,  he  was  obliged  to  resign  and 
come  to  this  diocese.  While  pastor  of  Shelburne  Falls,  where  he  had  already 
served  two  years,  he  was  made  pastor  of  Webster. 

The  curates  of  this  parish  were  Rev.  J.  Edmund  Perreault,  from  October 
12,  1882,  to  July  12,  1884;  Rev.  D.  E.  Delage,  from  February  7,  1885,  to 
August  27,  1885  ; J.  A.  Demieuse,  from  November  12,  1890,  to  July  12,  1892, 
and  Rev.  Father  L.  A.  Simard,  from  November  7,  1894,  and  is  still  in  ser- 
vice. 

The  people  of  this  parish,  who  now  number  3200,  are  ordinarily  of  the 
working  class,  who  find  their  means  of  livelihood  in  the  mills,  and  the  farms, 
or  at  every-day  common  labor.  There  are  amongst  them,  however,  physi- 
cians, pharmacists,  merchants  and  tradesmen. 

From  March,  1870,  to  January,  1898,  there  have  been  3109  baptisms,  702 
marriages  and  about  35  conversions  from  Protestantism. 

When  the  parish  schools  opened,  in  1885,  there  were  eight  sisters  teach- 

350  children  ; the  average  attendance  now  makes  count  of  450  children, 
and  eleven  sisters  look  after  their  interests. 

ST.  JOSEPH’S  CHURCH,  (Polish), 

Webster. 

IN  1 869  the  first  contingent  of  Polish  people  was  brought  to  town  by  the 
agent  of  Slater’s  Mills,  who  had  gone  to  New  York  for  help,  and  on 
his  return  had  with  him  half  a dozen  of  Polish  families.  These  were  : 
the  Grefta,  Bozezkowski,  Wqjciechowski  and  Reglimski  families. 

In  1886  the  Polish  people  counted  400  souls.  A committee  was  formed 
of  four  of  their  men,  Dadyslaus  Jonakoswski,  chairman,  Joseph  Reglinski, 
Joseph  Kraki,  Valenjine  Stochaj,  and  John  Benbenek.  They  sought  per- 
mission from  the  venerable  and  beloved  Father  Quan,  pastor  of  the  Catholic 
people  in  Webster,  to  build  a church  for  themselves.  He  gladly  gave  the 
permission,  and  put  the  case  before  Bishop  O’Reilly.  The  bishop,  too, 
assented,  and  the  Polish  people  called  a meeting  in  the  basement  of  St. 
Louis’  church.  Rev.  Marvin  Kowski  came  from  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  and  said 
the  first  Mass  for  the  new  Polish  congregation  in  the  basement  of  St.  Louis’ 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


233 


church,  September  that  same  year.  The  committee  went  amongst  the  peo- 
ple seeking  funds  for  the  new  chiirch.  That  fall  they  bought  three-quarters 
of  an  acre  of  land  on  Whitcomb  street,  and  each  evening  after  working  hours 
the  men  gathered  to  dig  the  foundations  and  lay  the  basement  walls.  This 
basement  was  completed  under  the  direction  of  Reglimski  in  the  summer  of 
1887.  The  corner-stone  of  the  new  church  was  laid  by  Father  Quan  in  Sep- 
tember of  the  same  year,  and  Father  Thomas  D.  Beaven,  of  Spencer,  preached 
the  sermon.  The  church  of  St  Joseph  was  finished  in  the  spring  of  1888. 

Then  came  Father  Chalupka,  who  had  been  ordained  on  the  Pentecost 
Monday  of  that  year,  and  on  the  very  day  of  his  ordination  had  taken  pos- 
session of  the  parish  of  Webster.  That  night  he  began  the  confessions  of  his 
people.  It  was  then  the  end  of  the  Easter  season,  and  he  heard  confessions 
afternoon  and  evening  until  Thursday.  He  then  went  to  New  York  for  altar 
furniture,  and  was  back  and  said  the  first  Mass  in  St.  Joseph’s  church  on 
Trinity  Sunday.  This  was  Father  Chalupka’s  own  first  Mass. 

The  church  was  not  dedicated  till  the  summer  of  1889,  when  Bishop 
O’Reilly  performed  the  ceremony,  and  Father  Kolaszenski  preached  the  ser- 
mon. In  March,  1890,  Father  Chalupka  bought  land  for  a school  close  to 
the  church,  and  in  the  spring  of  1891  began  thereon  the  erection  of  the  parish 
school.  In  September  of  1892  three  Sisters  of  the  Felician  Order  welcomed 
ninety  children  to  the  school.  The  next  month  another  Sister  joined  the 
community,  which  now  consisted  of  Sisters  Salomea,  Felisia,  Gustolda  and 
Anastasia.  There  are  now  300  children  in  the  parish  schools. 

After  the  opening  of  the  schools  the  priest  immediately  began  the  en- 
largement of  the  church.  It  had  then  seating  capacity  for  400  ; he  so 
enlarged  it  that  it  now  seats  800.  It  was  rededicated  in  the  summer  of  1893 
by  Bishop  Beaven  ; Father  Frenel  preached  the  sermon. 

The  Polish  people  of  Webster  are  more  orderly  and  more  law-abiding 
than  their  countrymen  at  Chicopee.  One  hundred  of  them  own  their  own 
homes.  They  are  in  business,  builders,  contractors,  masons,  carpenters  and 
tailors.  The  women  as  a rule  work  in  the  mills.  One  hundred  of  the  men 
are  citizens.  They  are  in  this  country  to  stay.  They  number  1700  commu- 
nicants, besides  the  children. 

Father  Chalupka  was  succeeded  in  February,  1895,  by  Father  Pluchinski 
till  October,  1898.  Rev.  Venceslaus  Leuz  was  made  “locum  tenens  ” by 
Bishop  Beaven  till  January,  1899,  when  two  Franciscan  Fathers  from  the 
mother-house  at  Syracuse — Father  Stanislaus,  O.M.C.,  and  Father  Aegidius — 
came  to  the  care  of  the  Polish  people.  They  are  yet  in  control  of  the  parish. 

There  have  been  since  the  foundation  of  the  parish  1213  baptisms,  and 
494  marriages. 

The  people  are  all  of  the  laboring  class. 

Rev.  Stanislaus  Tarnowski,  the  pastor,  was  born  March  27,  1871,  at 
Czarnkow,  Prussian  Poland.  He  attended  the  state  school  of  that  town  till 
the  age  of  sixteen,  when  he  went  to  Italy  and  became  a Franciscan.  He 
attended  Sanminiata  and  Bagnorea  colleges,  and  then  graduated  from  the 
Propaganda  at  Rome  when  twenty-three  years  of  age.  He  was  ordained  in 


234 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Bagnorea,  Italy,  September  23,  1893,  by  Mgr.  Buffi.  He  was  curate  at  the 
Assumption  church,  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  1894  to  1897,  and  in  St.  Stanislaus’ 
ehurch,  Trenton,  N.  J.,  1897  to  1898.  He  was  acting  pastor  at  St.  Adelbert’s 
church,  Elmhurst,  L.  I.,  1898  to  1899,  when  he  was  appointed  resident  pastor 
of  St.  Joseph’s  chureh,  Webster. 


ST.  LUKE’S  CHURCH, 

Westboro. 

N the  8th  day  of  August,  1704,  in  Westboro,  some  men  and  boys 
were  at  work  in  a field,  now  part  of  the  Whitney  estate,  spreading 
flax,  when  some  Indians  rushed  suddenly  down  over  the  hill  and 
seized  the  boys.  One  was  instantly  killed,  and  four  others,  from 
seven  to  ten  years  old,  were  captured.  The  captives  were  Asher,  aged  ten; 
Adonijah,  aged  eight ; sons  of  Thomas  Rice.  The  others,  Silas  and  Timothy, 
were  the  sons  of  Edmund  Rice.  The  boy  killed,  Nahor,  was  a brother  of  the 
two  last  named.  Four  years  later  Asher  was  redeemed  by  his  father,  and 
returned  home.  Adonijah,  his  brother,  remained  all  his  life  with  the  Indians. 
His  descendants  yet  live  in  Montreal,  on  the  north  side  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 
The  two  sons  of  Edmund  Rice,  Silas  and  Timothy,  grew  up  in  the  Indian 
wigwams.  Silas  married  an  Indian  squaw,  and  little  more  is  known  of  him. 
His  brother,  Timothy,  was  adopted  by  the  chief  of  the  Caughnawages,  who 
were  converts  to  the  Catholic  religion  through  some  French  Jesuit  missionaries 
then  stationed  near  Montreal.  This  Timothy  afterwards,  in  company  with 
another  captive  named  Tarbell,  who  had  been  taken  from  Groton,  returned 
to  Westboro  September  15,  1740.  He  had  become  a famous  chieftain 
amongst  the  Indians,  and  was  known  for  his  superior  talents,  his  courage 
and  warlike  spirit.  These  two  captives,  Timothy  Rice  and  Mr.  Tarbell, 
were  the  first  two  Catholics  known  to  have  been  in  Westboro.  In  a letter 
dated  July  21st,  1899,  from  the  Rev.  J.  G.  L.  Forbes,  the  priest  now  in 
charge  of  the  mission  of  St.  Francis  at  Caughnawaga,  P.  Q.,  Rev.  J.  J-  Mc- 
Coy received  the  following  names  taken  from  the  ancient  parish  register : 
“ Silas  and  Tim  Rice  from  Westboro.” 

Father  Fitton  somewhere  about  1834  had  a “station”  in  Weatboro  for 
the  boot-makers.  Other  than  the  mention  made  in  his  sketches,  there  is  no 
record  of  what  he  had  done  here.  In  1849  Father  Gibson,  of  Worcester,  said 
]\Iass  in  the  home  of  Michael  Sullivan,  on  the  Flanders  road.  Some  of  the 
old  people  remember  that  previous  to  this  Father  Fitton,  on  his  way  to 
Boston,  baptized  the  daughter  of  a Mr.  Shea.  This  was  the  first  baptism  of 
a Catholic  known  to  have  taken  place  within  the  town  limits.  There  were 
then  about  thirty  Catholic  families  in  the  town.  Westboro  became  a regular 
“station”  of  Worcester  in  1851,  at  about  this  time  the  people  of  Westboro 
gathered  together  four  hundred  and  eighty  dollars,  intending  it  for  the  build- 
ing of  a church.  They  had  been  refused  the  use  of  the  town  hall,  and 
because  of  this  refusal,  they  were  obliged  to  have  services  in  the  homes  of 
Daniel  Hackett,  James  Kane  and  Patrick  Casey.  The  Catholics  of  Long- 
meadow  just  then  were  reported  to  the  people  of  this  town  as  having  in  their 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


235 


ownership  some  lumber,  which  they  had  bought,  intending  to  build  a church, 
but  which  did  not  meet  their  needs.  A committee  was  appointed  to  confer 
with  the  people  of  Longmeadow,  with  the  view  of  purchasing  this  lumber, 
but  they  reported  on  their  return  that  the  frame  was  too  long  for  the  pur- 
poses intended  at  Westboro,  and,  therefore,  the  proposed  purchase  fell 
through.  At  this  time  a man  named  Otis  gave  the  Catholics  one  half  an  acre 
of  land  for  a church  on  Elm  street.  Mr.  Otis  was  a Protestant.  On  Father 
Gibson’s  going  from  Worcester,  Father  Farrelley  began  to  come  from  Mil- 
ford. Father  Sheridan,  of  Uxbridge,  for  a while  also  looked  after  the 
people’s  interests,  until  replaced  by  Father  Conlon,  of  Marlboro.  While 
Father  Conlon  had  charge  of  the  town,  Ethan  Bullard,  then  a selectman, 
interested  himself  in  his  Catholic  neighbors,  and,  after  hard  work,  obtained 
from  the  town  officials  consent  to  use  the  town  hall.  The  people  paid  for  its 
use  thenceforward  during  the  attendance  of  Fathers  Cuddihy,  Welsh  and 
Barry,  who  came  from  Milford,  Natick  or  Hopkinton.  Father  Barry,  in 
1 869,  bought  the  old  Baptist  church,  and  exchanged  the  land  on  Elm  street 
for  a plot  on  Milk  street,  and  moved  the  church  thereto.  This  church  was 
remodeled,  and  served  for  religious  purposes  until  burned  to  the  ground  in 
April,  1886.  Father  Mennetti  came  after  Father  Barry,  but  only  a few  times. 
In  1870  Westboro  was  made  a parish,  and  Rev.  Richard  Donovan  was  made 
the  first  resident  rector.  He  bought  the  house  on  the  Upton  road  now  owned 
by  the  Haynes  family,  and  here  he  lived  during  his  pastorate.  Rev.  P.  Egan 
came  in  his  stead  in  1873,  assisted  by  Father  Anderson  part  of  the  time,  and 
he  cared  for  the  people  until  1878.  During  the  pastorates  of  Fathers  Dono- 
van and  Egan  there  was  considerable  trouble  between  priests  and  people. 
Criticisms  of  the  former  were  constant  and  serious.  The  people  were  divided 
into  two  bodies,  some  defending  the  priest,  and  some  condemning  him. 
The  bad  blood  stirred  between  neighbor  and  neighbor  has  left  traces  even  to 
this  day.  The  priest’s  life  was  made  almost  unbearable,  and,  to  his  own 
relief,  and  the  relief  of  a great  body  of  the  people,  two  years  after  his  coming, 
he  was  transferred  to  East  Hampton.  No  definite  charge  was  ever  made 
against  Father  Donovan;  the  whole  difficulty  seeming  to  have  root  in  the 
dislike  for  the  priest  by  some  of  the  people,  who,  before  his  coming,  had 
ruled  the  parish  interests  according  to  their  own  sweet  will.  Father  Egan, 
who  is  said  to  have  been  a very  scholarly  man,  in  his  late  years  had  shown  a 
growing  weakness  of  a convivial  nature,  which  the  people  saw.  This  was 
the  only  thing  they  ever  said  against  this  priest ; but  this,  together  with  the 
conduct  of  his  assistant.  Father  Anderson,  who  seems  to  have  lacked  loyalty 
to  his  pastor,  and  to  have  brought  on  himself  deseiwed  criticism  of  a very 
serious  nature,  again  divided  the  people  into  two  camps,  for  and  against  the 
priest.  In  1878  Father  Egan  was  transferred  to  Boston,  and  Rev.  C.  J.  Cronin 
came  to  St.  Luke’s.  Father  Cronin  was  with  the  people  until  1881.  When 
he  died  he  left  the  memory  of  his  name  as  that  of  a saint.  Father  Cronin 
was  born  May  5,  1848.  He  studied  iu  the  Worcester  schools  and  Holy  Cross 
College,  and  was  ordained  December  21,  1872.  He  died  December  22,  1881, 
and  is  buried  in  St.  Luke’s  cemetery,  where  a grateful  people  have  erected 


236 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


over  him  a beautiful  monument.  When  Father  Cronin  came  to  the  town  the 
differences  between  the  priest  and  people  had  so  unhappily  afiected  the  Cath- 
olic body,  and  so  injured  the  respect  usually  given  the  priestly  name,  that  it 
is  reported  that  a number  of  the  towns-people,  some  of  whom  were  said  to 
have  been  Catholics,  gathered  outside  the  house  where  the  priest  made  his 
home,  and  created  a wild  tumult  with  tin  pans,  fish  horns  and  cries  of  dis- 
respect. It  is  reported,  too,  that  the  first  keg  of  altar  wine  sent  to  the  town 
in  his  name  was  opened  without  authority  in  the  freight-house,  and  examined, 
and  the  remark  made  by  the  baggage-master,  “We  will  give  that  young  fel- 
low half  a year  to  go  the  way  of  the  rest.”  Father  Cronin  assumed  the  care 
of  the  people  of  Westboro,  Southboro  and  Cordaville.  He  worked  late  and 
early.  He  preached  in  season  and  out  of  season.  He  sought  the  people  in 
their  homes,  on  the  farms,  and  in  the  shops.  Day  and  night  he  labored  and 
prayed,  until  it  began  to  tell  upon  his  health.  He  was  taken  with  hemor- 
rhages of  the  lungs,  and  was  ordered  to  a southern  climate  by  his  physician. 
When  he  felt  strong  enough  to  return,  he  came  back  to  his  labor,  and  to  his 
death.  If  ever  a man  may  be  said  to  have  been  a martyr  to  duty.  Father 
Cronin  was  that  man.  So  saintly  was  his  life,  and  so  lofty  an  idea  of  the  true 
priest  did  he  leave  with  the  people,  that  he  made  it  possible  for  his  successors 
to  do  the  work  which  later  on  fell  to  their  lot.  Father  Cronin  built  the  present 
rectory,  on  a lot  of  land  purchased  in  1873,  at  a cost  of  four  thousand  dollars. 
He  was  assisted  the  last  few  years  of  his  life  by  Father  Michael  Kittredge. 

At  his  death  he  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  R.  S.  J.  Burke,  then  a curate  at 
Pittsfield.  Father  Burke  was  a man  of  unusual  eloquence,  who  had  been 
beloved  by  the  people  to  whom  he  ministered  at  Pittsfield.  He  came  to  West- 
boro with  this  reputation,  and  retained  it  during  the  whole  time  of  his  pas- 
torate. He  was  promoted  to  Worcester  in  the  spring  of  1887,  and  was  sue-- 
ceeded  by  Rev.  John  J.  McCoy.  During  Father  Burke’s  time  occurred  the 
burning  of  the  old  church  on  Milk  street.  The  insurance  received  after  the 
fire  made  it  possible  for  him  to  begin  to  see  his  way  towards  a new  church. 
He  bought  a piece  of  land  adjoining  the  church  lot  already  purchased  at  the 
corner  of  Main  and  Ruggles  streets  from  Mr.  Cobb  for  two  thousand  nine 
hundred  dollars.  There  was  some  little  trouble  about  this  land.  It  was 
thought  the  sellers  of  the  land  did  not  keep  their  promises  to  Father  Burke, 
and  the  priest,  indignant  at  what  seemed  a breach  of  good  faith,  told  his  p>eo- 
ple  that  they  were  not  obliged  to  trade  with  Messrs.  Cobb  & Company,  who 
were  grocers  in  the  town.  This  brought  about  a quiet  boycott,  which  soon 
brought  Messrs.  Cobb  & Company  to  their  senses,  and  the  promises  made  the 
priest  were  kept.  Father  Burke  was  not  then  able  to  build  the  new  church, 
and  bought,  therefore,  a large  barn  which  was  on  the  Cobb  estate  and 
remodeled  it  at  a cost  of  three  thousand  dollars.  It  seated  upwards  of  six 
hundred  people,  and  herein  all  religious  services  were  held  until  the  building 
of  the  new  church  of  St.  Duke.  Just  before  the  coming  of  Father  Burke  the 
missions  of  Northboro  and  Cordaville  were  made  separate  parishes. 

When  Father  McCoy  came  he  found  the  parish  without  debt,  and  nearly 
one  thousand  dollars  in  the  treasury.  There  was  a presbytery,  stable,  chapel 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


237 


and  five  acres  of  land  for  cemetery  purposes.  He  immediately  took  the  census 
of  the  people  and  found  within  his  parish  lines  fourteen  hundred  and  forty 
people.  These  were  divided  into  two  hundred  and  fifty-six  families.  There 
were  of  these  fourteen  hundred  and  forty,  two  hundred  and  thirty-nine  of 
French-Canadian  origin,  one  Portuguese,  one  Scotchman  and  one  Chilian. 
The  rest  were  of  Irish  blood.  Eighty-three  of  the  people  were  “boarders.” 
There  were  nine  hundred  and  fifty-eight  adults.  Father  McCoy  called  a 
meeting  of  the  people,  and  being  promised  enthusiastic  help  in  the  building 
of  the  new  church,  plans  were  requested  from  P.  W.  Ford,  of  Boston.  The 
first  intention  was  to  build  in  brick,  but  Bishop  O’Reilly  advised  the  people 
in  a personal  letter  sent  to  Father  McCoy  to  build  a frame  church.  Mr.  Ford 
brought  the  pastor  plans  of  a church  in  Romanesque  style  of  architecture, 
which  were  immediately  accepted.  Father  Burke  had  allowed  the  town  to 
draw  gravel  from  the  site  of  the  proposed  church,  therefore  considerable  space 
had  been  already  excavated  for  the  foundation  walls,  when  in  the  late  sum- 
mer of  1888  a body  of  men  volunteered  their  services  for  the  completion  of 
the  digging.  These  men  were  Thomas  Linnane,  Thomas  Riley,  Patrick 
Murphy,  James  Boland,  John  McCoy,  Pierre  Dowdal,  William  Lane,  Patrick 
Brody,  Jeremiah  Doyle,  William  Ravine  and  James  Donahue.  Mr.  Patrick 
Brody  brought  horse  and  cart,  and  Mr.  Charles  Fay,  a Protestant  neighbor, 
came  with  a pair  of  horses  and  cart  and  labored  as  enthusiastically  as  any  of 
the  Catholics.  The  contract  for  the  stone  foundations,  which  were  acknowl- 
edged to  be  equal  to  anything  ever  built  in  the  town,  was  given  to  Thomas 
Linnane.  The  stone  u.sed  was  taken  from  the  “poor  farm.”  The  foundation 
walls  were  completed  by  fall,  then  eovered  with  cement  and  boarded  over 
until  the  next  spring.  Aixgust  i,  1888,  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  J.  J.  Keane,  now  the 
famous  Archbishop  of  Washington  and  Roman  fame,  then  rector  of  the  Catho- 
lic University  at  Washington,  laid  the  corner-stone  and  preached  the  sermon. 
Through  the  untiring  help  of  the  parishioners  the  building  was  completed  in 
the  spring  of  1889.  It  was  dedicated  May  30th,  the  feast  ©f  the  Ascension, 
by  Rev.  Thomas  Griffin,  chancellor  of  the  diocese,  who  was  delegated  by  the 
bishop,  then  ill,  for  this  duty.  The  Solemn  High  Mass  of  dedication  was 
sung  by  Father  Griffin,  assisted  by  Rev.  Edmund  Casey,  Rev.  Patrick  Boyle, 
of  Beverly,  and  Father  Redican,  of  Cordaville,  as  master  of  ceremonies.  The 
sermon,  which  was  spoken  of  in  the  public  prints  as  a “forcible  and  effective” 
discourse,  was  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Francis  McCarthy,  S.  J.,  of  New  York. 
The  evening  sermon  was  by  Rev.  Thomas  Beaven. 

The  church,  which  is  credited  with  great  beauty,  is  the  pride  of  the  poor 
people  who  built  it.  The  altars  were  the  gift  of  the  women  of  the  parish.  They 
are  three  in  number,  and  were  called  in  the  printed  history  of  the  town  “ ehaste 
and  beautiful.”  “The  high  altar  especially,”  says  the  history  of  Westboro, 
quoting  the  public  prints  of  the  day,  “ with  its  background  of  beautiful  paintings, 
stained  glass  windows,  representing  St.  Cornelius,  St.  Luke  and  St.  Margaret, 
and  the  graceful  lines  of  the  sanctuary,  supported  by  carved  angelic  figures, 
forms  a picture  that  not  only  satisfies  the  artistic  perceptions,  but  lifts  the  soul  to 
the  contemplation  of  Him  in  whose  honor  the  beautiful  edifice  has  been  erected.” 


238 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


The  stained  glass  windows  were  the  gifts  of  Michael  Ray  and  family; 
Bridget,  Margaret  and  Mary  Brady ; Thomas  McEnany  ; William  Monte ; 
William  Ravine  and  family  ; Patrick  Brody  and  family  ; the  four  daughters 
of  William  Dee,  Katie,  Nora,  Alice  and  Mary  ; Patrick  Murphy,  John  Dee, 
and  Joseph  Wheeler.  Of  the  three  large  windows  over  the  sanctuary,  that  of 
St.  Cornelius  was  the  gift  of  a Protestant  neighbor,  Herbert  Wilson,  in 
memory  of  Father  Cronin,  and  that  of  St.  Margaret  was  given  by  Rev.  J.  J. 
McCoy  in  memory  of  his  mother. 

After  the  building  of  the  new  church  Father  McCoy  remodeled  the  old 
chapel  into  a gymnasium  for  the  young  people  and  fitted  up  the  stage  for 
dramatic  entertainments.  He  bought  the  “ Braley  farm,”  adjoining  the 
cemeteiy",  which  had  about  six  acres,  and  added  this  to  the  parish  property. 
He  laid  out  walks,  planted  shrubs  and  trees,  and  made  excellent  roads  from 
the  old  stones  taken  from  the  walls  which  had  separated  the  lots.  He  put 
them  down  as  foundation  in  the  carriage  roads.  When  this  work  was  done 
Henry  Lane,  a young  man  of  the  town,  by  trade  a steam-fitter,  offered  to 
build  a fence  of  water  pipe  if  Father  McCoy  would  procure  the  material. 
This  was  done,  and  three  sides  of  the  cemetery  were  fenced  in  by  two  lines  of 
iron  water  pipe,  the  lower  one  of  which  contained  the  town  water  the  summer 
long.  Every  fifty  feet  of  this  was  marked  by  a stop  cock,  to  which  a hose 
attached  could  reach  all  parts  of  the  cemetery.  Wood  and  brush  in  the 
cemeteiy"  were  cut  down  and  burned,  stumps  , were  dug  up,  and  the  whole 
place  cleared.  The  surface  then  was  plowed  and  seeded.  All  the  posts  used 
in  the  fencing  of  the  cemetery'  were  free  gifts  to  the  parish.  The  labor  alone 
of  cutting  and  shaping  them  was  paid  for  by  the  parish.  Father  McCoy 
made  improvements  in  the  presbytery,  refnrnished  it,  built  an  addition  to  the 
stable,  remodeled  that,  and  when  promoted  to  Chicopee  in  1894,  left  the 
parish  but  a little  over  fifteen  thousand  dollars  in  debt. 

After  Father  McCoy’s  going  the  parish  was  in  the  temporary  care  of 
Rev.  John  Ivers  for  a few  months  until  the  return  of  the  bishop  from  Europe, 
when  Father  McGann,  then  pastor  of  Jeffersonville,  was  promoted  to  Westboro. 

Father  McGann  was  born  in  Milford.  He  graduated  from  the  Milford 
schools,  and  was  for  some  time  at  Andover.  He  then  studied  in  Canada  at 
the  college  of  St.  Laurent,  and  afterwards  in  the  Grand  Seminary  of  Montreal, 
where  he  was  ordained.  He  was  curate  at  Millbury  and  at  Blackstone  until 
made  pastor  of  Holden,  where  he  is  reported  to  have  done  excellent  work. 

The  people  of  Westboro  work  in  the  boot  shops,  straw  shops,  or  as  laborers 
on  the  roads  or  farms.  As  a rule  they  are  poor,  hard-working  people,  though 
several,  especially  the  farmers,  are  well-to-do  in  this  world’s  goods.  The 
people  of  the  town  in  general  are  well  behaved,  though  the  bad  conduct  of 
some  has  given  the  whole  town  an  undeservedly  bad  reputation.  In  town 
politics  the  Catholic  people  wield  great  influence.  When  united  they  can 
control  the  town.  Many  of  our  people  hold  positions  of  trust,  and  ordinarily 
by  good  conduct  in  such  positions  they  bring  respect  to  the  body  they  repre- 
sent. In  church  work  they  have  done  marvelously  well.  They  have  not 
always  been  fortunate,  but  nothing  has  ever  deterred  them  from  going  ahead 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


239 


with  strong  heart  against  every  new  trouble.  A more  loyal  body  to  priest 
and  church  than  the  good  Catholics  of  Westboro  would  be  hard  to  find  from 
end  to  end  of  the  diocese. 

In  this  parish  is  the  State  Reform  School  and  the  State  Asylum  for  the 
Insane.  From  the  time  of  Father  Cronin  the  school  has  known  the  attend- 
ance and  labors  of  the  priest.  Father  Cronin  had  great  difficulty  and  met 
with  serious  opposition  when  he  first  asked  for  permission  to  minister  to  the  in- 
mates ; but  through  the  constant  efforts  of  Mr.  Flatley,  of  Boston,  and  the 
priest’s  unconquerable  determination,  he  was  given  authority  to  hold  services 
there,  to  the  great  happiness  of  those  incarcerated  therein.  In  Father 
McCoy’s  time,  through  the  kindness  of  the  superintendent  of  the  Lyman 
school,  Mr.  Chapin,  Mass  was  said  therein  several  times  in  the  year,  and 
could  have  been  said  oftener  if  the  priest  was  able  to  give  his  services.  Every 
assistance  was  given  by  Mr.  Chapin  to  the  priest  in  his  work  amongst  the 
boys.  The  same  kind  word  may  be  said  of  the  authorities  of  the  “Asylum.” 
An  altar  was  built  there  at  the  priest’s  request,  and  vestments  furnished,  and 
every  month  Father  McCoy  said  Mass  for  the  inmates,  at  which  times  con- 
fessions were  heard  and  communion  given  to  tho.se  in  a condition  to  receive  it. 

Just  before  the  going  of  Father  Burke,  Doctor  Curtis  left  a thousand 
dollars  to  be  used  in  the  building  of  a gate  at  the  entrance  to  St.  Luke’s 
cemetery.  This  gate  was  erected  afterwards  by  Father  McCoy.  It  is  of 
pressed  brick,  with  white  marble  trimmings,  after  plans  by  P.  W.  Ford  of 
Boston.  The  arch  is  spanned  by  wood  marbleized.  A slab  of  marble  on  the 
inside  of  one  of  the  pillars  bears  the  name  of  the  kindly  donor. 


ST.  PATRICK’S  CHURCH, 

Whitinsville. 

Mission. — St.  Peter’s  Church,  Northbridge  (Rockdale). 


IN  1834  Rev.  James  Fitton  said  Mass  in  Blackstone  and  in  the  several 
towns  in  the  valley.  Tradition  has  it  that  he  came  to  Whitinsville  and 
said  Mass  somewhere  within  the  limits  of  Northbridge  about  the  same 
period.  The  first  exact  knowledge  we  have  of  Catholics  in  this  district 
is  contained  in  the  census  made  by  Father  Gibson  in  1846  when  he  speaks  of 
Northbridge  as  having  “ fifty  railroad  men,”  and  calls  it  one  of  the  “ stations  ” 
attended  by  him.  In  1848  a church  was  built  in  Milford,  and  the  people 
of  Whitinsville  walked  for  services  to  Milford,  or  to  Worcester,  Woonsocket, 
or  even  as  far  away  as  Providence.  For  marriage  and  baptismal  services 
they  were  obliged  to  go  to  some  one  of  these  places.  After  Father  O’Reilly 
became  pastor  of  Blackstone  the  people  of  Whitinsville  went  regularly  to 
Uxbridge,  which  was  then  a mission  wherein  he  said  Mass  once  a month. 
This  was  in  1852.  In  the  following  year  Father  Sheridan  became  the  first 
resident  pastor  of  Uxbridge,  and  began  at  once  the  saying  of  Mass  at  Whit- 
insville in  a house  on  Church  street.  He  had  services  also  at  Rockdale. 
When  St.  Mary’s  church  in  Uxbridge  was  ready  for  services  in  the  summer 
of  1855  Father  Sheridan  discontinued  coming  to  Whitinsville,  and  the  peo- 


240 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGFIELD. 


pie  were  again  obliged  to  go  Uxbridge  three  miles  away  for  all  spiritual 
administrations.  Father  Sheridan  went  to  Blackstone  the  first  day  of  Octo- 
ber, 1857.  Though  pastor  at  Blackstone  he  retained  the  care  of  Uxbridge, 
Whitinsville,  East  Douglas  and  Manchang  as  missions  until  his  going  to 
Boston  in  1867.  In  that  year  (1867),  Father  O’Keefe  came  and  remained  as 
pastor  but  one  year.  He  had  Whitinsville  as  a mission,  but  during  his  pas- 
torate he  purchased  a site  for  a chapel  in  this  town,  which  was  afterwards 
built  at  the  corner  of  Church  and  Cross  streets.  He  was  succeeded  by  Rev. 
Denis  Moran,  who  built  the  first  Catholic  church  in  Whitinsville,  and 
had  it  dedicated  to  God  under  the  patronage  of  St.  Patrick.  Mr.  James  Mur- 
phy of  Providence,  was  the  architect.  When  Father  Moran  was  promoted  to 
Winchendon  in  1871,  Rev.  Henry  E.  Robinson  came  as  his  successor  to  Ux- 
bridge and  consequently  to  the  care  of  Whitinsville.  Upon  his  promotion  in 
1889  to  the  permanent  rectorship  of  Chicopee,  Whitinsville  was  made  a parish 
by  itself,  and  Rev.  Peter  S.  O’Reilly  was  made  its  first  resident  pastor.  Im- 
mediately upon  assuming  control  of  the  parish,  Father  O’Reilly  took  the 
census  of  his  people,  and  finding  them  sufficiently  numerous  to  make  possible 
the  work  needed  in  the  place,  he  purchased  from  the  Whitin  Machine  Com- 
pany the  land  upon  which  now  stand  the  rectory  and  the  rear  portion  of  the 
new  church.  P.  W.  Ford,  of  Boston,  made  him  plans  for  a commodious  paro- 
chial residence,  which  he  built  in  the  summer  of  1889.  He  was  living  in  it 
in  January,  1890.  The  following  spring  he  bought  a tract  of  fourteen  acres 
about  a mile  from  the  church  for  burial  purposes,  and  the  June  following, 
Bishop  O’Reilly  consecrated  the  place,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Conaty,  of  Worcester, 
preached  the  sermon.  In  1893,  Father  O’Reilly  renovated  the  old  St.  Peter’s 
church,  built  upon  it  a tower,  wherein  he  placed  a bell,  blessed  by  Dr.  Conaty, 
who  was  delegated  by  Bishop  Beaven  for  this  work.  When  this  was  done. 
Father  O’Reilly  gave  attention  to  the  grading  of  the  grounds  about  the 
church,  and  the  planting  of  trees  and  shrubs,  which  have  made  the  whole 
estate  orderly. 

The  first  month  of  Father  O’Reilly’s  pastorate  he  gathered  together  the 
Catholics  of  Rockdale  (Northbridge),  the  mission,  and  began  saying  Mass  for 
their  benefit.  In  1890  he  purchased  an  acre  of  land,  and  in  1892  began  the 
building  of  a church,  which  was  dedicated  under  the  title  of  St.  Peter  that 
same  year.  This  church  is  in  old  Gothic  style,  and  seats  four  hundred  people. 
It  is  complete,  with  all  the  needed  appointments.  While  building  this  church 
the  people  aided  him  enthusiastically.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mahoney  gave  a thou- 
sand dollars  towards  the  building;  Mr.  H.  Whitin,  five  hundred;  Bernard 
McQuaide,  George  Brown  and  Delle  Edmire  Donat,  fifty  dollars  each;  while 
the  Misses  Bean  gave  a quarter  of  an  acre  of  land.  This  Rockdale  church 
property  cost  twelve  thousand  dollars.  In  1897  Father  O’Reilly  began  prepa- 
rations for  a new  church.  This  was  to  be  built  on  the  site  of  the  old  church. 
He  was  obliged,  therefore,  to  move  the  old  one.  He  sought  the  services  of 
architect  Charles  B.  McGinnis,  of  Boston,  who  brought  him  plans  of  a church  in 
North  Italian  Gothic,  which  was  to  be  built  in  brick  with  terra  cotta  trimmings. 
This  suited  Father  O’Reilly’s  taste,  and  at  once  preparations  were  made  for 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


241 


the  building.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  May  15,  1898,  by  Bishop  Beaven. 
The  sermon  was  preached  by  Rt.  Rev.  Mgr.  Thomas  J.  Conaty,  rector  of  the 
Catholic  University  at  Washington.  It  was  dedicated  September  24,  1899, 
with  magnificent  ceremony.  Rt.  Rev.  Thomas  D.  Beaven  was  the  officiating 
prelate,  and  Very  Rev.  James  Lynch  D.D.,  of  Utica,  N.  Y.,  preached  the  dedi- 
catory sermon.  The  great  church  was  taxed  to  its  utmost  capacity.  The 
speaker  is  said  to  have  been  listened  to  with  rapt  attention,  and  to  have  made 
a deep  impression  with  the  glowing  words  of  his  sermon.  The  Solemn  High 
Mass  of  dedication  was  celebrated  in  the  presence  of  the  bishop  by  Rt.  Rev. 
Mgr.  Griffin,  D.D.,  of  Worcester,  with  Rev.  J.Campeau,  of  East  Douglas,  deacon 
Rev.  Bernard  S.  Conaty,  of  Worcester,  sub-deacon  ; and  Rev.  Joseph  J.  Rice, 
D.D.,  of  Whitinsville,  master  of  ceremonies.  Rev.  William  Power,  of  Black- 
stone,  was  arch-priest  in  the  ceremonies.  On  the  right  of  the  bishop,  as  deacon 
of  honor,  sat  Rev.  David  McGrath,  and  on  his  left  Rev.  M.  Sullivan,  of  Uxbridge. 
The  music,  which  was  of  an  imusually  fine  order,  was  under  the  direction  of 
Prof.  Robert  J . Ferris,  of  Woonsocket,  R.  I.  At  the  Solemn  Vesper  service,  cele- 
brated by  Rev.  Michael  Carroll,  of  Fisherville,  assisted  by  Fathers  James  A.  Hur- 
ley, of  Worcester,  James  Cruse,  of  Uxbridge,  and  Joseph  Rice,  D.D.,  of  Whitins- 
ville, the  bishop  confirmed  two  hundred  and  fifty  children  of  the  parish.  The 
confirmation  sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  Father  Feehan,  P.  R. , of  Fitchburg. 

The  curates  of  this  parish  have  been  Revs.  C.  A.  Sullivan,  from  January, 
1891,  to  January  4,  1894;  Father  Hickey,  from  this  date  to  August  14,  1897  ; 
Joseph  Daley,  from  1897  to  1899;  Rev.  Joseph  Rice,  who  came  September, 
1899,  and  is  still  laboring  here. 

The  record  of  baptisms  and  marriages  from  May,  1889,  to  January',  1898, 
shows  a total  of  937  baptisms,  218  marriages,  and  six  conversions  from  Pro- 
testantism. 

Rev.  Peter  S.  O’Reilly  was  born  in  Taunton  February  22,  i860.  He 
received  his  preliminary  education  in  the  schools  of  his  native  city,  and 
entered  Montreal  College  for  his  classical  studies.  He  returned  in  1878  and 
began  to  study  at  Holy  Cross  College,  Worcester,  and  was  graduated  from 
there  in  1881.  He  studied  theology  in  the  Grand  Seminary  of  Montreal  and 
was  ordained  in  June,  1884.  Immediately  after  ordination  he  was  stationed 
at  Warren  for  a short  time.  Thence  he  went  to  Grafton.  In  October,  1886, 
he  was  appointed  by  the  bishop  as  curate  to  St.  Bernard’s  church,  Fitchburg. 
Here  he  filled  out  the  whole  time  of  his  curacy  until  he  was  made  pastor  in 
May,  1889.  Father  O’Reilly  has  done  good  work  during  the  time  of  his  pas- 
torate. He  has  been  untiring  in  his  attention  to  the  interests  of  his  parish 
and  people.  He  has  shown  himself  the  i^ossessor  of  considerable  taste  in 
church  building,  and  everywhere  throughout  the  diocese  he  receives  credit 
for  this.  His  parish  has  within  its  limits  more  than  twenty-five  hundred 
Catholics,  who  are  of  Irish,  French,  English,  American,  Bohemian,  Dutch, 
Polish  and  Italian  birth  or  origin.  They  are  in  the  trades,  in  the  factories,  or 
laborers,  as  a rule  ; though  several  are  merchants,  while  several  others  are 
men  of  property.  They  wield  considerable  influence  in  the  town,  and  all  in 
all  stand  as  well  as  the  best  of  their  neighbors. 


242 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


IMMACULATE  HEART  OF  MARY, 

WiNCHENDON. 

IN  the  list  of  people,  making  the  original  settlement  of  Winchendon 
before  1755,  we  read  of  “Gabrieli  Boucher,  a French  refugee  from 
Nova  Scotia.”  The  likelihood  is  that  he  was  a Catholic. 

“ The  opening  of  the  Cheshire  railroad  in  1848,”  writes  Rev.  A.  P. 
Marvin,  in  his  history  of  Winchendon,  “ brought  into  the  town  several  Irish 
families,  and  the  tide,  then  started,  flowed  steadily  until  the  Catholics  were 
numerous  enough  to  need  the  convenience  of  public  worship.”  A half 
dozen  or  more  Irishmen,  who  worked  on  this  road,  settled  in  town.  We  have 
record  of  the  names  of  Morrissey,  Brown,  Halloran  and  Sullivan  [^amongst 
them.  One  might  suppose  that  Father  Gibson,  who  had  a “ station  of  two 
hundred  railroad  men  ’ ’ in  Athol  in  1 846,  might  have  called  and  said  Mass 
here,  though  we  have  no  certain  record  of  any  Mass  earlier  than  1847,  when 
it  is  said  that  Mass  was  said  in  a “railroad  shanty”  by  some  priest  coming 
from  the  New  Hampshire  mission,  presumably  by  Rev.  Jeremiah  O’Callahan 
or  Rev.  John  B.  Daly,  both  of  whom  shared  the  labors  of  the  Vermont  and 
New  Hampshire  missions  at  that  time.  When  Father  Gibson  made  Fitch- 
burg his  stopping  place  for  half  of  his  time  in  1855,  he  began  to  give  atten- 
tion to  Winchendon.  He  came  two  or  three  times  each  year,  but  towards  the 
end  of  his  pastorate  he  came  more  frequently.  During  his  pastorate,  an  old 
barn,  with  a half  acre  of  ground  surrounding  it,  was  bought  by  the  Catho- 
lic people,  and  fitted  up  as  a chapel,  and  services  were  held  here  until  the 
basement  of  the  spacious  new  church  was  built  later  on  by  Father  Moran. 
This  chapel  is  said  to  have  been  twelve  by  twenty  feet.  If  the  entire  Cath- 
olic population  of  Winchendon  and  vicinity  at  this  time  could  be  gath- 
ered within  this  space,  they  were  certainly  few  in  number.  But  they  began 
to  come,  and  they  came  steadily.  After  the  completion  of  St.  Martin’s 
church  in  Otter  River,  the  people  went  from  Winchendon  thither  to  Mass. 
Sundays  and  great  feasts  compelled  the  people  to  go  to  Otter  River  to  hear 
Mass,  especially  when  it  was  impossible  to  have  Mass  at  home.  After  Father 
Gibson,  Father  Turpin  cared  for  the  interests  of  these  people.  The  first  year 
of  his  coming,  he  took  out  the  interior  of  the  barn,  and  fitted  up  the  whole 
building  for  a chapel.  He  put  a cross  up,  and,  just  over  the  altar,  a large 
window,  which  let  in  light  and  dignity.  Father  Turpin  had  the  care  of 
Winchendon  until  Otter  River  was  made  a parish  in  1864,  when  Rev.  T.  H. 
Banuon,  the  new  pastor,  was  given  care  of  Winchendon  as  a mission,  and 
came  once  a month  to  the  people.  The  citizens  of  Winchendon,  in  town 
meeting  assembled,  gave  the  Catholics  a tract  of  land  for  burial  purposes, 
which  Father  Bannon  had  blessed,  and  of  which  he  assumed  care.  In  1867 
Rev.  William  Orr,  now  of  Cambridge,  succeeded  Father  Bannon  in  the  pas- 
torate of  Otter  River.  He  organized  a church-building  society,  and  when  he 
was  transferred  to  Lawrence,  two  years  later,  he  left  five  hundred  dollars  in 
bank  to  the  credit  of  Winchendon.  His  successor.  Rev.  Richard  Donovan, 
thought  the  old  church  too  small  for  the  Catholics  of  his  parish,  and 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


243 


endeavored  to  purchase  an  old  Methodist  church.  He  was  unable  to  move  it 
to  the  parish  grounds,  and,  therefore,  all  the  negotiations  came  to  naught. 
Rev.  Patrick  McManus  was  made  pastor  of  Otter  River  in  November,  1870. 
He  was  obliged  to  say  Mass  in  the  town  hall,  as  the  people  had  outgrown  the 
accommodation  of  the  chapel.  On  the  last  day  of  July,  1871,  Rev.  Denis  C. 
Moran  came  from  Uxbridge,  as  the  first  resident  pastor  of  Winchendon.  He 
was  given  Ashburnham,  Gardner  and  Westminster  as  missions.  He  lived  for 
a while  in  a house  close  to  the  railroad  station.  He  was  a man  of  great 
energy,  and  set  about  the  building  of  a suitable  church.  Father  Moran 
encountered  a great  deal  of  religious  bigotry  while  attempting  the  purchase 
of  a becoming  site.  The  people  had  grown,  their  power  was  being  felt,  and 
they  were  hated  for  their  growing  strength.  Doctor  Geddes,  a Protestant, 
who  was  well  disposed  towards  the  Catholics,  came  to  Father  Moran’s  assist- 
ance. He  bought,  as  if  for  himself,  the  beautiful  plot  of  two  and  one  quarter 
acres  at  the  comer  of  Grove  and  Spmce  streets,  and,  after  being  assured  of 
possession,  he  in  turn  deeded  it  to  Bishop  O’Reilly.  This  plot  cost  the  Catho- 
lics eight  thousand  dollars.  Father  Moran  at  once  began  the  building  of  the 
church.  He  completed  the  basement,  and  roofed  it,  and  had  it  blessed  under 
the  title  of  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary.  This  basement  is  in  length  one 
hundred  and  twenty  feet,  and  in  width  sixty  feet.  It  is  of  brick,  resting  on 
a stone  foundation.  From  floor  to  ceiling  it  is  fourteen  feet.  It  is  well 
lighted,  dry  and  pleasant.  It  cost  fifteen  thousand  dollars. 

In  Febmary,  1880,  Father  Moran  was  promoted  to  the  parish  of  St. 
Charles  at  Adams,  and  Rev.  John  Conway  came  to  Winchendon  as  his  suc- 
cessor. Gardner  was  then  made  a separate  parish,  but  Ashburnham  yet 
remained  a mission  of  Winchendon. 

The  parish  records  show  from  Father  Moran’s  first  baptism,  August  6^ 
1871,  to  January  i,  1898,  2472  baptisms,  and  449  marriages.  No  special 
record  has  been  kept  of  conversions. 

Since  the  coming  of  Father  Conway  the  basement  chapel  has  been  fres- 
coed, and  side  altars  and  statues  erected.  He  has  introduced  running  water 
into  the  cemetery.  Because  of  the  depression  in  business  he  has  been  unable 
thus  far  to  attempt  the  completion  of  the  church.  In  1894,  architect  Ford, 
at  his  bidding,  made  plans  for  a parochial  residence,  which  was  completed 
within  the  same  year  at  a cost  of  five  thousand  dollars.  It  is  a very  neat  and 
well-appointed  presbyteiy\  At  the  same  time  he  built  a stable  and  graded 
the  grounds,  so  that  to-day  the  priests  report  the  parish  property  as  especially 
well  arranged  and  well  kept. 

Father  Conway  is  a native  of  historic  Uimerick,  the  “ City  of  the  Broken 
Treaty,”  where  he  was  bom  June  24,  1836.  He  completed  his  classical 
cour.se  in  his  native  city,  and  went  thence,  in  1858,  to  Newfoundland.  After 
making  his  philosophical  and  theological  studies  in  St.  John’s,  he  was 
ordained  there  August  10,  1862.  Though  a career  of  prominence  seemed 
promised  him  in  the  Dominion  he  desired  service  in  the  United  States,  and 
came  hither  in  1874.  Bishop  O’Reilly  sent  him  as  assistant  to  Rev.  Denis 
Scannell  at  St.  Anne’s,  Worcester.  After  three  years  service  there  he  went 


244 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


to  Father  Michael  Walsh  at  North  Brookfield.  He  was  on  this  mission  when 
made  the  pastor  of  Winchendon  in  February,  1880.  Father  Conway  is  of  a 
jovial,  easy-goingdisposition,  with  considerable  native  love  for  music,  pictures, 
and  for  mechanics.  Some  years  ago  he  and  his  friends  were  hoping  for  a for- 
tune from  a “fire  escape”  which  Father  Conway  had  conceived,  but  the 
advent  of  other  “escapes,”  and  the  absence  of  money  necessary  to  push  his 
patent,  prevented  its  success.  He  has  a great  deal  of  Irish  drollery,  and  says 
quaint  things  that  are  repeated  for  their  humorous  flavor  from  end  to  end  of 
the  diocese.  He  is  kindly  too 

In  speaking  of  the  people  in  general,  he  says:  “They  are  a good  people, 
respected,  but  unfortunately  it  is  only  the  old  people  who  can  live  here  on 
account  of  the  want  of  business.  This  compels  the  young,  especially  girls, 
to  leave.  The  work  consists  mainly  in  the  manufacture  of  wooden  ware,  and 
the  making  of  machinery  for  the  construction  of  tubs,  buckets,  chains,  and 
lemon  squeezers.” 

CHURCH  OF  ST.  JOHN, 

Worcester. 

IN  the  winter  of  1702  Digory  Seijent,  “ who  owned  house  and  four  score 
acre  of  land  ” (which  lay  within  the  township  of  Worcester),  was  killed 
in  his  house  on  Sagatabscot  Hill  by  Indians  under  command  of  Saga 
more  John.  “ They  took  with  them  as  prisoners  the  mother  and 
her  children,  Daniel,  Thomas,  Martha  and  Mary.  The  delicate  mother 
unable  to  keep  up  in  the  journey  to  Canada,  was  killed  by  a chief  of  the  party 
as  they  ascended  the  hills  of  Tataesset.  The  children  were  taken  to  Canada. 
Daniel  and  Mary  preferring  the  wild  freedom  of  their  captors  to  the  restraintr 
of  civilized  life,  adopted  the  manners  of  their  captors.  They  never  again 
lived  with  their  relatives,  though  they  once  made  them  a visit  when  Eunice 
Williams,  taken  at  Deerfield,  returned. ‘ In  as  much  as  the  captives  taken  then 
and  who  refused  to  return,  all  became  Catholics  as  did  Miss  Williams,  it  may 
be  fair  to  say  that  the  first  known  Catholics  in  Worcester  were  these  two  chil- 
dren of  Digory  Serjent,  Daniel  and  Mary. 

A body  of  Scotch  people  who  had  gone  from  Argylshire  in  the  reign  of 
James  the  First,  and  had  since  lived  near  Londonderry  in  the  north  of  Ireland, 
came  about  1718  to  Worcester.  They  were  not  received  kindly  by  the  settlers, 
for  the  hate  of  the  Irish  people  was  then  strong  and  general,  and,  though 
these  people  refused  to  be  called  such,  still  their  neighbors  so  called  them,  and  a 
tumultuous  and  lawless  crowd  at  night  demolished  the  frame  of  a meeting 
house  which  the  new  emigrants  were  building  on  the  west  side  of  the  Boston 
road.  It  is  said  that  Matthew  Thornton,  afterwards  a delegate  to  the  Conti- 
nental Congress  from  New  Hampshire  and  later  a signer  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  was  a child  among  these  emigrants  in  Worcester.  “These 
Scotch,”  says  Lincoln,  “were  accompanied  by  a few  of  the  native  Irish,  with 
whom  they  had  contracted  relationship  during  their  long  residence,  or  been 
attached  by  community  of  sentiment  and  suffering.”  In  the  days  of  which 


Lincon's  Historj’,  page  37. 


Rev.  D.  F.  McGILLICL'DDY. 


Rev.  B.  S.  CONWTV. 


Rt.  Rev.  Mgr.  THOM.YS  GRIFFIN,  D.D. 


Rev.  JAMES  B.  TUITE. 


Rev.  denis  SCANNELL. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


245 


we  speak  distinction  was  made  between  the  so-called  Scotch-Irish  and  native 
Irish  because  of  religion.  Those  who  were  not  Catholic  were  known  as  the 
Scotch-Irish,  and  those  who  were  Catholic  were  still  the  “ mere  Irish.”  Pos- 
sibly amongst  the  emigrants  were  people  of  our  faith.  It  is  interesting  to 
know  that  the  first  man  to  have  introduced  and  planted  potatoes  was  an  Irish- 
man by  the  name  of  Young  who  came  from  the  Isle  of  Bert,  near  London- 
derry, Kingdom  of  Ireland,'  with  this  colony. 

The  same  historian,  Lincoln,  says  : “ In  the  autumn  of  1755,  that  cruel 
measure  of  policy,  the  darkest  blot  on  our  history,  the  removal  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Nova  Scotia  and  their  dispersion  through  the  provinces,  was  executed 
by  General  Winslow.  About  a thousand  of  the  French  Neutrals,  as  these 
unfortunate  people  were  called,  arrived  in  Boston  at  the  beginning  of  winter, 
and  were  distributed  among  the  several  towns  designated  by  a committee. 
The  proportion  assigned  to  Worcester  was  eleven.  They  were  received  and 
supported  by  the  selectmen,  at  the  expense  of  the  province.  The  following 
description  is  annexed  to  an  account  rendered  for  their  subsistance. 

“ ‘Eleven  French  persons,  an  aged  man  and  woman  sixty-five  or  seventy 
years  old,  past  labor  ; the  female  very  weak  ; a girl  about  seventeen  years  old, 
who  employs  her  whole  time  in  taking  care  of  the  old  people.  They  have 
four  sons  who  support  themselves.  In  this  family  are  Jean  Herbert  and  Mon- 
sieur Lebere.  Justin  White  and  his  wife,  aged  about  thirty,  both  very  feeble, 
the  man  inclining  to  a consumption  and  unfit  for  labor  ; they  have  three 
small  children,  the  eldest  but  about  five  years  old,  all  chargeable  ; one  of  the 
children  has  been  born  very  lately,  so  that  the  whole  number  now  is  twelve.’” 

“ These  families,  torn  from  their  homes,  reduced  from  comparative  aflflu- 
ence  to  desolate  poverty,  thrown  among  strangers  of  different  language  and 
religion,  excited  pity  for  their  misfortunes.  Their  industrious  and  frugal 
habits,  and  mild  and  simple  manners,  attracted  regard,  and  they  were  treated 
here  with  great  kindness.  They  cultivated  a little  tract  of  land,  were  per- 
mitted to  hunt  deer  at  all  seasons,  and  aided  in  their  own  support  by  laboring 
as  reapers  and  by  manufacturing  wooden  implements.  Although  they  tilled 
the  fields,  they  kept  no  animals  for  labor.  The  young  men  drew  their  fuel 
and  materials  for  fencing  on  the  ground  with  thongs  of  sinew,  and  turned  the 
earth  with  a spade.  So  deep  was  the  feeling  of  their  sufferings  in  their  vio- 
lent removal,  that  any  allusion  to  their  native  country  drew  from  them  a flood 
of  tears.  The  aged  persons  died  broken-hearted.  In  1767  the  remnant  re- 
moved to  Canada  among  their  countrymen.  The  town  then  granted  seven 
pounds  to  lay  in  stores  and  pay  the  passage  of  John  Lebere  to  Quebec,  and 
authorized  the  selectmen  to  raise  that  sum  by  loan.”  These  people  were 
Catholic. 

Coming  down  to  the  opening  of  the  Revolutionary  War  we  find  on  the 
“muster  roll  of  a company  of  minute  men  and  militia  men  who  marched 
from  the  town  of  Worcester  to  Cambridge,  April  19,  1777,  under  command 
of  Captain  Timothy  Bigelow,”  the  names  of  Lieutenants  William  Gates,  and 
John  Kannady  (Kennedy).  And  amongst  the  soldiers,  the  names  of  Joseph 
. ’ bincon’s  History,  page  49. 


246 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Bennet,  Philip  Donahue,  Jonathan  Gleason,  Joseph  Ball,  Samuel  Bennet, 
Nicholas  Powers  and  Thomas  Drury.  One  cannot  argue  to-day  that  any  of 
these  were  Catholic,  but  such  names  as  Kannady  (Kennedy),  Donahue,  Powers 
and  Drury,  would  seem  to  give  some  reason  for  thinking  their  owners  might 
be  Catholic.  To  be  sure  a great  many  Irish  people  were  scattered  all  through 
the  new  country,  and  here  in  Worcester  even  Protestant  ministers  bore  com- 
mon Irish  names,  as  Edward  Fitzgerald,  who  came  from  Londonderry,  Ire- 
land, and  Thaddeus  McCarthy,  who  was  native  born. 

Hence  one  is  not  safe  in  drawing  the  inference  that  because  the  name 
was  Irish  the  person  must  have  been  Catholic.  The  reasonableness  of  this 
objection  may  be  admitted  while  we  state  the  fact.  There  are,  however,  cer- 
tain Irish  names  which  have  about  them  more  surely  than  others  the  idea 
that  their  owners  were  Catholics,  and  of  these  we  are  thinking  while  we  write. 

The  Catholic  Indians  of  Maine,  the  Penobscots,  Passamaquaddies,  and 
the  St.  Johns’  were  invited  by  Washington  in  the  time  of  the  Revolution 
to  join  the  cause  of  Freedom.  Their  delegates  came  for  counsel  to  Water- 
town.  They  agreed  to  serve  the  Americans  in  the  coming  struggle,  but  made 
one  request.  “ We  want  a ‘ Black  Gown’  or  French  priest,”  they  said.  It 
was  agreed  ; they  served  the  Americans  faithfully,  and  in  coming  and  going 
to  and  from  their  homes  during  the  war  it  is  supposed  they  passed  through 
Worcester.  After  the  Revolution,  in  order  to  serve  these  poor  Indians  and 
the  other  Catholics  gathered  along  the  route.  Rev,  John  Cheverus,  afterwards 
the  first  Bishop  of  Boston  and  Cardinal-Archbishop  of  Bordeaux,  pas.sed 
frequently  througb  Massachusetts  and  the  greater  part  of  the  New  England 
states.  The  old  road  was  through  Worcester  and  is  in  existence  to-day. 

The  first  mention  of  a body  of  Catholics  in  the  city  was  in  the  year 
1826,  when,  as  old  parish  records  have  it  “Catholics  first  came  to  this  town 
of  Worcester.”  They  were  composed  of  Irish  emigrants  brought  here  by 
contractors  who  were  employed  in  the  construction  of  the  Blackstone  Canal. 
This  work  was  in  progress  two  years,  and  many  of  the  laborers  stayed  in  the 
town.  Occasionally  they  were  visited  by  the  priest.  Soon  afterwards  Catho- 
lics began  to  settle  in  different  parts  of  the  county.  The  great  body,  however, 
were  poor  Irish  laborers  who  had  followed  the  course  of  the  great  Western 
Railroad,  and  these  begged  for  a priest  to  come  and  live  with  them.  Acci- 
dents from  the  sudden  caving  of  banks  and  from  the  blasting  of  the  ledges 
frequently  occurred,  and  no  priest  was  by  to  console  the  dying  laborer.  A 
permanent  priest  was  a necessity.  In  1834  Bishop  Fenwick  appointed  Father 
Fitton,  then  pastor  at  Hartford,  to  visit  them  once  a month.  He  came  and 
was  greeted  with  blessings  of  eighty  glad  people.  Encouraged  by  the  spirit 
he  found  among  them,  he  set  out  immediately  to  procure  a site  for  a chapel, 
and,  as  the  old  records  run,  “on  the  7th  of  July,  1834,  at  the  instance  and 
earnest  desire  of  the  Catholics,  purchased  a lot  of  land  on  Temple  Street,  and 
laid  the  foundation  of  a small  church.” 

There  are  some  things  connected  with  this  purchase  of  land  for  the 
church  site,  which,  for  a truthful  recording  of  the  temper  of  the  times  and 
men,  should  be  told.  It  is  said  that  Father  Fitton  first  purchased  a lot  on  the 
II— S'? 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


247 


corner  of  Salem  and  Park  streets,  from  a Mr.  Browne.  The  bargain  was 
concluded,  and  the  parties  to  the  contract  repaired  to  the  office  of  old  Squire 
Tim.  Bigelow,  on  the  corner  of  Front  and  Church  streets,  where  the  deed 
was  made  out.  When  about  to  hand  the  deed  to  Father  Fitton,  Mr.  Browne 
grew  inquisitive  about  the  uses  to  which  the  land  was  to  be  put.  “ What  are 
you  to  build  there?”  he  inquired.  “ A Catholic  Church,  sir,”  replied  Father 
Fitton.  The  answer  put  an  end  to  all  negotiations.  A coal  of  fire  on  the 
head  of  the  old  Puritan  could  not  start  him  more  violently.  He  hurriedly 
destroyed  the  deed,  and  Father  Fitton  was  again  obliged  to  take  up  the  search 
for  land.  It  was  an  unpromising  labor.  A church  of  his  faith  was  not, 
seemingly,  to  be  a welcomed  event  in  the  community.  Hearing  of  this  diflB- 
culty  three  worthy  gentlemen,  citizens  of  the  town,  came  to  the  help  of  the 
Catholics.  Every  Catholic  of  the  city  to-day  owes  the  names  and  the  memory 
of  these  men  a debt  of  gratitude.  They  were  William  Eincoln,  whose  brother 
was  afterwards  governor  of  the  State,  Francis  P.  Blake  and  Harvey  Pierce. 
The  two  last  named  subsequently  were  baptized  into  the  Catholic  church, 
and  died  loyal  and  dutiful  sons.  These  three  gentlemen,  without  telling  the 
object  of  their  purchase,  procured  for  the  Catholics  the  lot  of  land  whereon 
sits  St.  John’s  church  to-day.  The  spot  was  then  the  heart  of  an  old  pasture, 
part  of  which  had  been  ploughed  up,  and  was  then  bearing  a crop  of  corn. 
An  old  wagon  track  or  cattle-walk  ran  east  from  Green  streets,  toward  the  Canal, 
to  a place  near  where  the  house  of  the  late  John  Murray  now  stands.  Fol- 
lowing the  line  of  this  old  track,  a street  was  laid  out,  which,  in  honor  of  the 
temple  they  were  then  building  for  God,  the  people  called  Temple  street. 

On  the  yth  day  of  July,  1834,  the  foundation  of  the  first  church  in  the  now 
diocese  of  Springfield  was  laid.  It  was  a small  frame  building  sixty-two  by 
thirty-two  feet.  The  people  were  unable  to  do  more  than  lay  the  foundation 
the  first  year.  Between  the  basement  walls  at  a rough  altar  covered  with 
boards  was  said  the  first  Mass  by  Father  Fitton.  This  was  not,  however,  the 
first  said  in  Worcester.  Before  this  Father  Fitton  had  said  Mass  in  an  old 
stone  building  on  Front  street,  which  now  stands  two  numbers  to  the  west  of 
the  viaduct.  It  was  then  occupied  by  a Catholic  man  by  the  name  of  McKil- 
lop,  whom  Father  Fitton  speaks  of  as  a “respectable  mechanic.”  Other 
Masses,  after  that  at  McKillop’s,  were  said  in  different  parts  of  the  town 
wherever  a fit  place  could  be  had,  or  a particular  reason  required.  Masses 
were  frequently  said  in  pleasant  weather  on  the  large  rocks  which  rise  up  in 
the  little  knoll,  just  in  the  rear  of  the  old  “Dummy”  station,  where  one 
enters  the  deep  cut  on  the  Boston  and  Albany  Railroad.  This  Mass  was  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Catholic  roadmen,  and  was  said  every  Sunday  when  it  was 
possible  for  the  priest  to  be  there.  On  such  occasions  the  men  erected  a rude 
altar  on  the  side  of  the  rock,  and  carrying  spruce  branches  from  the  woods 
would  cover  the  place  overhead.  In  this  bower,  amid  the  wild  flowers  which 
the  poor  men  gathered,  and  the  sweet-smelling  spruce  branches  the  priest 
read  the  Mass,  while  the  men  and  their  families  knelt  about  in  the  sunlight. 
Some  time  before  these  Masses  of  which  we  speak,  there  was  a service  held 
and  a sermon  preached  in  the  dining-room  of  the  “Old  Elephant,”  a then 


248 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


famous  tavern  which  stood  near  to  the  present  site  of  C.  C.  Houghton’s  boot- 
shop.  Some  say  that  Bishop  Fenwick  was  the  preacher,  others  Father  Fitton. 
The  old  stage  road  between  Boston  and  Springfield  was  through  the  town, 
and  the  ‘ ‘ Old  Elephant  ’ ’ tavern  was  a place  of  consequence.  The  audience 
which  gathered  in  the  dining-room  where  occurred  the  preaching  was  made 
up  of  Irish  railroad  laborers,  Irish  maid  servants,  the  stage-drivers,  the  travel- 
ers en  route,  and  citizens  whom  curiosity  or  other  motive  brought  there. 
The  instructions  must  have  been  clever  and  effective.  “Notwithstanding the 
place,”  wrote  one  who  knew,  “all  the  audience  evinced  as  much  decorum  as 
if  it  had  been  a consecrated  house  of  prayer.” 

In  1835  the  people  had  the  joy  of  seeing  the  walls  of  the  little  church  up 
and  the  roof  over  it.  In  two  years  from  the  first  beginnings  it  was  completed 
and  paid  for.  “ It  was  erected,”  says  the  old  records,  “ by  the  Irish  laborers 
employed  on  the  railroad.”  Up  to  May,  1836,  the  people  had  been  without  a 
resident  pastor.  Father  Fitton  came  up  from  Hartford  monthly,  but  not  till 
this  year  did  he  make  Worcester  his  home.  He  lived  first  with  Henry  Mur- 
ray’s family  in  a part  of  the  old  homestead  which  yet  stands  to  the  east  of  the 
church  property.  Then  he  lived  at  Mt.  St.  James’  or  Pacachoag  Hill,  now 
the  college  property.  He  lived  later  in  a small  wooden  house  that  stood  be- 
tween the  old  Christ’s  church  and  the  house  of  Patrick  McKenna. 

Whenever  from  1 834  and  long  afterwards  it  was  known  that  there  would 
be  Mass  at  Christ’s  church  the  people  would  gather  in  even  from  Clinton, 
Westboro,  Oxford  and  other  towns  hereabouts.  In  the  good  seasons  men  and 
women  walked  the  distance.  When  the  priest  could  not  come  on  Sunday  the 
people  went  to  the  church  for  prayers  just  as  when  he  was  there.  Some  of 
the  elderly  men  of  the  congregation  read  the  prayers  of  the  Mass,  and  led  in 
the  recitation  of  the  litanies.  Mr.  Richard  Roche,  Henry  Murray,  and  later, 
John  O’Sullivan,  generally  did  this  pious  work.  The  people  in  innocent 
humor  used  to  call  these  gatherings  the  “dry  masses.” 

The  first  Sunday-school  was  begun  and  presided  over  by  a young  lady 
convert  named  Eliza  Whitney.  She  was  one  of  four  sisters  who,  with  their 
mother,  had  come  from  Protestantism.  Eliza,  Martha  and  Harriet  with  their 
mother  built  a house  close  to  the  church.  The  other  sister  was  the  wife  of 
Francis  McKenna,  and  lived  in  Boston  with  her  husband,  who  was  the  United 
States  Marshal.  Eliza  opened  the  Sunday-school,  assisted  by  John  and  Robert 
Laverty,  then  young  lads  of  the  congregation.  The  first  Sunday  saw  seven 
children,  amongst  whom  was  James  Underwood  and  his  brothers,  William  and 
Charles  Rourke,  the  sons  of  Patrick  Rourke.  During  the  week  following 
Miss  Whitney  learned  the  whereabouts  of  other  Catholic  children.  The  Eav- 
erty  boys  sought  them  out,  and  the  next  Sunday  they  could  count  fifteen  in 
the  class.  To-day  the  school  of  St.  John’s  alone  numbers  its  children  in  the 
thousands.  After  Miss  Whitney  the  Sunday-school  for  years  knew  the  effi- 
cient control  of  Henry  Murray  and  Joseph  Fitton  and  Catherine  Reilly. 

The  first  choir  was  made  up  of  Mary  Fitton,  Patrick  Sheridan  and  Henry 
Murray.  The  church  had  an  orchestra  for  times  of  great  services.  Patrick 
Sheridan  played  the  clarionet,  John  Eaverty  the  violin,  his  brother  Robert  the 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


249 


bass  viol,  Anthony  Carpenter  the  violoncello,  and  Henry  Murray  the  flute. 
The  first  altar  boy  was  James  Underwood,  and  the  first  altar  society  consisted 
of  Mrs.  Henry  Murray  and  Mrs.  Richard  Rourke.  The  earliest  class  of  chil- 
dren in  the  parish  to  receive  first  communion  in  a body,  came  the  second 
Christmas  Day  after  the  building  of  the  church. 

A little  later  a kind  old  negro  woman,  Mary  Davis,  or  “ Mother  Mary,” 
as  the  children  called  her,  came  from  Hartford,  where  she  had  been  one  of 
Father  Fitton’s  flock.  She  was  a very  devout  woman,  and  had  a kindly 
heart.  Most  of  her  time  was  spent  about  the  church  caring  for  the  altar. 

The  people  who  came  to  Mass  in  those  days  in  old  Christ’s  church,  were, 
strangely  enough,  from  many  nations  and  callings.  Every  summer  a portion 
of  the  Penobscot  tribe  of  Indians,  among  whom,  just  after  his  ordination. 
Father  Fitton  had  been  for  a time  a missionary,  came  down  from  Maine,  and 
pitched  their  tents  at  the  foot  of  Temple  street.  They  came  every  Sunday 
to  the  Mass  in  solemn  procession,  and  assisted  with  every  sign  of  respect  and 
adoration.  After  Mass  they  had  a custom  of  gathering  in  a circle  outside  the 
church  door,  and  there,  kneeling  on  the  ground,  awaiting  the  coming  of  the 
priest.  After  his  thanksgiving.  Father  Fitton,  who  knew  their  habits,  went 
out  into  the  circle,  lightly  laying  his  hand  on  each  bowed  head  in  benedic- 
tion. They  then  arose  satisfied,  and  went  their  way. 

Another  feature  of  the  time  was  the  attendance  at  Mass  of  the  United 
States  soldiers,  who  were  here  in  training  for  the  Florida  Indian  war.  The 
old  store -house  of  the  canal  was  turned  into  a barracks.  The  training-gpround 
was  just  across  the  canal  on  Burt  street.  The  great  majority  of  the  recruits 
then  here  were  Catholics,  and  attended  Mass  in  full  uniform  each  Sunday. 
The  little  church  at  that  time  reminds  us  in  a way  of  the  universal  mother 
church ; for  about  its  altar  rails  were  gathered  whites  and  blacks,  Indians, 
Irish,  English,  French  and  “ Yankees.”  Faith  made  one  family,  and  God 
was  father  of  the  household. 

Father  Fitton  left  Worcester  in  1843,  and  Rev.  A.  Williamson,  of  Balti- 
more, came  in  his  stead.  Father  Williamson’s  health  was  broken  when  he 
came,  and  he  was  soon  obliged  to  return  to  his  native  south.  Just  three 
weeks  after  his  farewell  to  the  people,  intelligence  came  back  of  his  death. 
He  died  of  apoplexy  at  his  home  in  Baltimore,  in  his  forty-second  year. 
Father  Williamson  was  too  short  a time  in  Worcester,  and  in  too  feeble  health 
while  here,  to  have  left  an  abiding  memory  with  the  people ; still  he  appears 
to  have  been  an  amiable  gentleman,  who  had  lived  many  years  on  the  conti- 
nent, and  was  possessed  of  a wide  knowledge  of  the  world,  its  places  and  its 
men.  He  was  well  educated,  and,  with  other  fine  tastes,  had  a love  for  beau- 
tiful paintings  and  engravings.  Evidences  of  this  love  of  art  yet  remain  in 
some  valuable  pictures  which  he  bequeathed  to  the  parish,  and  whieh  to-day 
grace  the  walls  of  St.  John’s  presbytery.  By  will,  made  at  Baltimore,  April 
29,  1845,  he  bequeathed  to  the  bishop,  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  of  Worces- 
ter, a chalice,  vestments,  altar  linens,  household  furniture  and  paintings. 

Rev.  M.  W.  Gibson  came  as  resident  pastor  April  5,  1845.  Father  Gibson 
was  an  Englishman,  born  in  Hexham,  the  shire  town  of  Northumberland, 


250 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


May  15,  1817.  At  eleven  he  entered  Ushaw  College,  which  had  been  built 
by  his  grand-uncle,  the  Bishop  of  the  Northern  District.  He  came  with  his 
parents  to  America,  and  resumed  his  studies  at  St.  Mary’s  College,  Emmitts- 
burg.  Here  he  remained  till  the  May  of  1834,  when  Cardinal  Weld  called  him 
to  Rome.  He  completed  his  course  of  theology  and  philosophy  at  the  famous 
College  of  the  Propaganda.  In  1841  he  returned  to  America.  Rt.  Rev.  Dr. 
Kenrick,  Bishop  of  Philadelphia,  ordained  him  a priest,  and  sent  him  imme- 
diately into  the  Alleghany  mountains  to  replace  the  saintly  prince-priest, 
Rev.  A.  D.  Gallitzin,  in  the  Catholic  parish  of  Loretto.  Here  he  labored  till 
1844,  at  which  time,  thinking  himself  called  to  a religious  life,  he  resigned  his 
charge,  and  withdrew  to  the  Jesuit  Novitiate  at  Frederick,  intending  to  become 
a member  of  that  great  society.  He  was  sent  by  the  Very  Rev.  Provincial  to 
Holy  Cross  College  in  this  city,  and  was  there  laboring  when  the  appoint- 
ment of  Bishop  Fenwick  made  him  pastor  of  the  Catholics  in  Worcester. 

When  Father  Gibson  came,  he  found  the  altar  entirely  unprovided. 
There  were  no  chalice  or  vestments,  and,  but  for  the  loan  of  such  by  the 
bishop,  the  people  could  not  have  had  Mass  that  day.  He  advised  a collec- 
tion for  the  buying  of  the  needed  articles,  and  a meeting  was  called  by  him 
for  this  purpose  after  the  Vesper  service  that  same  day.  In  this  meeting  was 
born  the  spirit  of  activity  which  has  remained  with  the  Catholic  people  of  the 
city  ever  since.  In  this  meeting,  too,  was  born  the  first  signs  of  trouble  and 
discord.  Some  time  before  the  going  of  Father  Fitton,  he  had  in  mind  the 
enlargement  of  the  church,  and  for  such  a purpose  he  collected  five  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars.  The  church  had  not  been  enlarged,  and  the  money  had 
been  put  into  the  bishop’s  hands  until  the  congregation  should  need  it.  Some 
of  the  men  were  for  drawing  this,  and  using  it  for  the  purchase  of  the  chalice, 
vestments  and  other  paraphernalia  for  the  altar.  The  bishop,  when  peti- 
tioned, replied  that  he  had  the  money,  but  that  he  considered  it  a sacred 
deposit,  and  would  not  permit  it  to  be  diverted  from  the  intention  of  its 
donors.  He  advised  them  to  raise  money  for  their  needs.  A collection  was 
immediately  made  according  to  the  bishop’s  request,  and  the  vestments 
bought;  but  the  signs  of  trouble,  which  had  been  noticed  in  the  meeting  of 
April  6th,  now  showed  afresh.  Every  man  had  his  own  way  and  ideas  for 
the  bettering  of  church  affairs.  Every  man  so  thinking  aired  his  notions 
among  his  neighbors.  The  consequence  was  that  shortly  a good  deal  of  bad 
blood  was  shown.  To  be  a member  of  a committee  in  those  days,  was  like 
being  a councilman  or  alderman  in  ours,  and,  since  there  were  not  commit- 
tees enough  to  go  round,  we  can  imagine  what  a noise  was  made.  The  dis- 
satisfied men,  of  course,  did  not  give  this  as  a reason  for  their  conduct,  nor 
was  it  always  the  reason.  Many  had  no  other,  but  there  were  some  “ seditious 
and  refractory;”  some  went  wrong  “owing  to  ignorance;”  others  again 
wanted  to  enlarge  the  church  ; some  wanted  Father  Fitton  back  as  pastor, 
while  others  yet  desired  a “new  church,  and  in  another  part  of  the  town.” 
Dante  said  of  the  leaders  in  a small  political  trouble  in  his  country  once : 

“ Every  clown  on  faction  bent 
Makes  as  much  clamor  as  Marcellus  did.” 


ST.  JOHN’S  CHURCH 
Worcester,  Mass. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


251 


And  in  a sense  the  saying  can  be  applied  to  the  leaders  of  the 
trouble  in  the  old  parish,  There  was  more  noise  than  mischief.  Yet  it  was 
not  all  noise,  for  some  of  the  wild  fellows  closed  up  Father  Gibson’s  house 
and  he  could  not  enter.  He  was  in  this  state  obliged  to  write  to  the  bishop 
and  ask  his  interference.  The  bishop  came  at  his  request  and,  after  the 
gospel  at  the  late  Mass,  spoke  to  the  people.  He  urged  union  and  charity; 
no  other  way  could  do  for  the  establishing  of  the  Catholic  religion.  He  left 
them  free  either  to  enlarge  the  old  church  or  to  build  a new  one,  but  he  forbade 
any  change  of  site  from  the  one  then  occupied.  After  Mass  he  gave  audience 
to  all  who  had  or  fancied  grievances.  The  bishop’s  sweetness  of  temper 
changed  the  war.  Then  began  an  enthusiasm.  In  a new  meeting  it  was 
ordained  that  “a  new,  large  and  respectable  church  be  erected  on  the  site  of 
Christ’s  church.”  How  wonderful  are  God’s  ways  with  us!  One  day  the 
outlook  in  His  work  is  seemingly  hopeless,  and  the  next  the  successful  end- 
ing of  the  same  is  assured.  So  was  it  in  the  old  parish.  The  idea  of  the 
new  church  put  an  end  to  the  dissensions  and  quarrelings.  There  had  been 
a great  deal  of  noise  and  a great  deal  of  dust,  but  when  the  clamor  was  hushed 
and  the  cloud  had  settled,  there  was  God  seen  working  out  His  purpose  under 
it  all.  And  the  hearts  of  the  people  were  with  His  purpose.  The  heads  of 
some  of  them  had  gone  a little  astray,  and  that  was  all. 

It  was  determined  to  build  a church  in  brick,  and  the  preliminaries,  plan, 
style  of  architecture,  etc.,  etc.,  were  left  to  the  pastor.  The  old  church  was 
moved  to  the  northwest  corner  of  the  church  lot  by  a Mr.  Hughes,  for  one 
hundred  dollars,  and  the  contract  for  this  work  was  given  him  April  28,  1845. 
The  old  church  fixtures  were  sold  for  one  hundred  and  eighteen  dollars  and 
seventy-four  cents,  and  this  more  than  paid  for  the  removal  of  the  old  building. 
On  Sunday,  May  ii,  1845,  Father  Gibson  before  the  sermon  asked  the  men 
in  the  congregation  to  assemble  at  the  church  the  next  morning  at  eight 
o’clock,  and  after  Mass  to  help  in  digging  the  foundations  for  the  new  church. 
At  his  request  they  assembled.  Mr.  Patrick  Conway,  one  of  the  oldest  set- 
tlers, requested  the  pastor  to  grant  him  the  privilege  of  beginning  the  work, 
which  being  granted,  all  made  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  Patrick,  invoking  the 
name  of  God,  struck  three  blows  with  a pick-axe  and  took  out  the  first  spadeful. 
Then  all  began.  About  two  hundred  men  worked  all  day,  and  at  snnset  a 
trench  was  dug  out  four  feet  deep  and  three  wide.  Then  with  three  hearty 
cheers  the  men  went  to  their  homes.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  May  27, 
1845,  by  Rt.  Rev.  John  B.  Fitzpatrick,  Coadjutor  Bi.shop  of  Boston.  The 
sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  Nicholas  O’Brien  both  in  English  and  French, 

Before  the  twelfth  of  June  there  were  several  bids  made  for  the  building 
of  the  superstructnre.  The  lowest  bidder,  Mr.  Samuel  D.  Harding,  who  offered 
to  erect  the  church  for  nine  thousand  dollars,  was  given  the  contract,  and  was 
asked  to  meet  the  committee  and  sign  the  agreement.  He  refused  under  the 
plea  that  the  time  allowed  him  for  the  building  was  too  short,  and  that 
material  and  labor  were  then  so  high  as  to  make  impossible  the  building  of 
the  church  at  the  figures  specified.  The  congregation  was  so  displeased  with 
Mr.  Harding  that  they  refused  to  treat  longer  with  him.  Father  Gibson  was 


252 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


then  asked  in  a public  meeting  to  take  the  whole  affair  upon  himself,  and 
unhindered  by  wise  “committeemen”  and  “meetings”  to  “go  ahead  and 
build  the  church.”  He  assented.  This  was  on  the  6th  of  July.  The  yth  he 
appointed  Mr.  Boland  general  superintendent,  and  before  the  evening  of  the 
8th  had  a contract  drawn,  agreed  upon  and  signed.  The  church  was  to  be 
completed  except  the  pews,  pulpit  and  altar  for  nine  thousand  six  hundred 
dollars.  The  work  was  pushed  briskly,  and  on  the  i6th  of  August  Mr. 
Boland  reported  the  foundations  and  underpinning  ready,  and  so  vigorously 
and  sharply  did  the  builders  follow  him  that  the  end  of  October  saw  the 
rafters  of  the  roof  in  place  and  the  spire  lifting  itself  above  them.  Just  then 
the  people  found  themselves  obliged  to  face  a difficulty  which  for  a while 
seemed  to  threaten  a delay  in  the  building.  The  moneys  looked  for  from  the 
voluntary  contributions  of  the  people  fell  off  very  considerably.  Much  more 
had  been  expected  and  promised  than  actually  came  in.  Father  Gibson  had 
agreed  to  furnish  monthly  instalments  to  the  builders.  He  was  unable  to  do 
so.  Then  he  thought  of  raising  money  by  mortgaging  the  church  property,  and 
herein  came  the  trouble.  Father  Fitton  had  held  the  property  in  fee  simple, 
but  before  leaving  Worcester  had  deeded  it  to  Bishop  Fenwick  in  trust  for 
the  Catholics  of  Worcester.  When  Father  Gibson  presented  his  papers,  the 
banks  considering  them  too  indefinite  refused  to  loan  money  upon  them. 
They  gave  as  reasons  : First,  the  Catholics  of  Worcester  were  not  recognized 
by  law  as  a corporate  body ; second,  it  was  not  restricted  to  the  borough,  but 
extended  over  the  county;  thirdly,  it  should  have  specified  “Roman  Catho- 
lics.” At  this  juncture  Father  Gibson  convened  a meeting  of  the  most  influ- 
ential of  his  parishioners  and  sought  advice  how  to  proceed.  A committee 
called  on  the  bishop,  and  it  was  learned  through  legal  advice  that  nothing 
could  be  done  to  better  the  case,  once  the  deed  had  been  recorded,  except 
by  act  of  the  Court  of  Chancery  or  the  State  legislature.  This  put  upon  the 
people  a great  amount  of  trouble,  and  occasioned  irritating  delays  in  the 
progress  of  the  building.  Finally  in  April,  1846,  the  Court  of  Chancery 
heeded  the  popular  request  and  granted  permission  for  a mortgage  upon  which 
might  be  raised  from  five  to  seven  thousand  dollars  for  a period  of  ten  years. 
The  Worcester  Bank  of  Savings  took  the  mortgage  and  gave  Father  Gibson 
five  thousand  dollars  thereon.  The  sailing  was  fair  and  pleasant  now.  The 
church  was  near  enough  to  completion  to  warrant  it  wise  in  Father  Gibson 
to  appoint  the  24th  day  of  June  following  for  the  dedication,  and  it  took  place 
the  day  appointed.  The  Boston  Pilot  of  July  4th,  1846,  describes  the  church 
as  “in  Roman-Doric  style,”  and  as  “an  ornament  to  the  town.”  Thirty-two 
clergymen  were  present  at  the  dedication,  at  which  Bishop  Fitzpatrick  was 
the  officiating  prelate  and  Rev.  Dr.  Ryder  preached  to  an  immense  audience. 
The  sermon  is  spoken  of  by  the  Pilot  as  of  “peculiar  eloquence  and  force.” 
The  subject  was  “Sacrifice.” 

April  2 1st,  1847,  old  Christ’s  church,  which  had  been  changed  into  a 
hall  and  thenceforward  called  the  Catholic  Institute,  was  opened  to  the 
public  for  the  first  time.  It  was  the  occasion  of  a lecture  by  the  illustrious 
convert,  Orestes  A.  Bronson,  LL.D.  His  subject  was  the  Catholic  Spirit. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


253 


Like  all  the  work  of  Bronson  it  was  masterly.  Some  feeling  was  provoked 
by  it,  not  because  of  any  bitter  thing  the  lecturer  himself  had  said,  but  from 
the  narrow  and  spiteful  ignorauce  and  intolerance  which  yet  lived  in  out-of- 
the-way  Puritan  places  and  bosoms. 

Just  at  this  time  secret  societies  arose  to  disturb  the  harmony  between 
priests  and  people.  A body  of  wild  young  fellows,  rejoicing  in  the  name, 
since  so  infamous,  the  “ Molly  Maguires,”  clubbed  together  for  attack, 
mutual  support  and  revenge  when  offended.  They  swore  solemnly  to  aid 
one  another,  no  matter  what  the  cause  which  called  for  the  aid.  Sensible 
people  saw  the  danger,  and  spoke  openly  against  the  stupid  body.  The  pastor 
heard  of  it,  and  took  immediate  steps  to  suppress  it ; and  he  succeeded.  He 
obliged  the  ringleaders  to  make  public  reparation  before  the  whole  congrega- 
tion one  Sunday,  and  thus  removed  the  scandal. 

The  peace  which  followed,  however,  was  short  lived.  The  old  hanker- 
ing for  the  tomfooleries  of  “ signs,”  “grips”  and  “ pass-words  ” was  not 
thoroughly  taken  out  of  the  “ Molly  Maguires,”  and  soon  again  rumor  was 
telling  of  a new  ” Patriotic  Society.”  It  was  in  the  fall  of  1846  the  Molly 
Maguires  had  been  crushed  out,  but  in  the  spring  of  1847  tke  “ Shamrocks  ” 
were  flourishing.  Many  members  of  the  old  society  were  now  in  the  new 
one.  Some  were  officers.  ” The  Shamrocks”  was  a thoroughly  bad  combi- 
nation, and  through  it  the  enemy  of  the  Church  worked  great  harm.  It 
consisted  of  men  only  from  the  north  and  west  of  Ireland.  No  man  who 
first  saw  the  light  in  the  south  or  east  could  belong  to  it.  The  sapient  reason 
for  this  exclusion  was  found  in  the  fact  that  the  liberties  of  Ireland  were  first 
jeopardized  and  lost  through  men  from  the  provinces  of  Leinster  and  Mun- 
ster, and  they  were  not  to  be  trusted  even  now.  We  are  inclined  in  our  day 
to  laugh  at  this  evident  absurdity,  but  in  that  time  it  was  not  a laughing 
matter.  The  Worcester  and  Nashua  Railroad  was  then  in  course  of  con- 
struction. Irishmen  from  all  ends  of  Ireland  were  here.  The  “county” 
feeling  ran  high,  and  ill  will  was  engendered.  There  were  quarrels  between 
individuals  in  the  “pits”  and  in  the  “cuts;”  the  factions  of  “his  country- 
men” espoused  either  man’s  side  in  the  battle  ; the  fight  often  was  carried 
from  the  place  of  work  to  the  town,  and  it  soon  became  a serious  matter  for 
the  great  bulk  of  the  people.  The  more  sensible  and  self-respecting  portion 
of  them  bewailed  the  shameful  conduct  of  their  brethren,  and  were  very 
glad  when  Father  Gibson  moved  stern  measures  against  the  society  which 
bred  the  whole  strife.  The  Shamrocks  in  consequence  were  very  hostile  to 
Father  Gibson.  He  was  an  Englishman,  and  the  hated  name,  “the  Saxon 
tyrant,”  was  frequently  on  their  lips  in  abuse  of  him. 

The  trouble  was  brought  to  a climax  during  the  Lent  of  1847.  St. 
Patrick’s  Day  of  that  year  the  St.  John’s  Mutual  Benevolent  Society  were 
out  in  parade.  The  Shamrocks  paraded  in  opposition.  The  blood  of  both 
parties  was  warm,  and  Father  Gibson  had  all  he  could  do  to  prevent  a set 
battle.  Patrick  Conway  was  the  standard  bearer  for  the  St.  John’s  Society, 
and  because  of  this  was  marked  for  special  dislike.  On  Wednesday  night  of 
the  following  Holy  Week  he  was  set  upon  and  severely  beaten.  Father 


254 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Gibson,  on  Easter  Sunday,  publicly  rebuked  the  authors  of  the  outrage,  and 
threatened  to  withhold  the  Sacraments  from  anybody  who  would  still  be 
found  in  the  ranks  of  the  wretched  organization.  This  made  the  members 
of  the  “ Branch  ” furious.  They  placarded  the  church  doors  during  Vespers 
of  the  same  day  with  an  insulting  screed,  and  shouted  vile  epithets  at  him 
when  he  ventured  to  tear  down  the  paper.  So  high  did  the  feeling  run  that 
on  the  evening  of  Easter  Tuesday  the  priest  was  obliged  to  call  in  the  sheriff 
and  a constable  to  protect  himself,  his  property,  and  the  church.  This  was 
too  much  for  the  long-enduring  people.  They  arose  against  the  society,  they 
rallied  to  the  support  of  the  priest,  and  aided  and  encouraged  him  in  the 
sharp  measures  which  he  undertook  to  use  the  civil  law  in  his  own  defence 
and  to  crush  the  disturbing  body,  the  misguided  “Shamrocks.”  Fear  of 
civil  prosecution,  and  the  undisguised  contempt  and  dislike  of  the  better 
people  in  a measure  brought  them  to  their  senses.  But  not  completely.  A 
deputation  was  sent  even  then  to  the  Bishop  with  instructions  to  compass 
the  deposition  of  Father  Gibson.  The  Bishop  received  them,  asked  their 
complaint,  and  when  he  heard  all,  severely  rebuked  them  for  their  wicked 
work  and  aim.  He  commended  the  action  of  the  pastor,  and  threatened 
signal  punishment  if,  at  their  return,  they  did  not  proceed  immediately  to 
undo  the  evil  they  had  caused,  and  to  repair  the  scandal  which  they  had 
brought  upon  the  Catholic  people.  They  were  obliged  to  do  this  ; and  on 
the  30th  day  of  April,  1847,  the  members  of  this  wonderful  society  came 
humbly  to  the  priest,  professed  sorrow  for  their  conduct,  and  made  promise 
never  again  to  join  any  secret  society.  They  were  made  to  sign  a written 
pledge ; the  pledge  and  the  names  of  the  signers  are  yet  in  the  possession  of 
the  pastor  of  St.  John’s. 

Thus  ended  the  Shamrock  Society,  a society  which  has  left  as  record  the 
unpleasantest  page  in  local  Catholic  history.  It  well  shows  how  unreason- 
able men’s  unrestrained  passions  may  make  them,  and  to  what  sorry  lengths 
we  go  when  we  close  our  ears  to  the  church  and  madly  run,  even  when  the 
race  seems  to  be  in  search  of  a good.  The  men  of  this  society  had  what 
they  considered  patriotic  aims  and  ends.  It  was  love  of  Ireland  they  per- 
suaded themselves  that  drew  and  kept  them  together,  and  this  love  of  one’s 
native  land  is  a holy  and  noble  thing.  But  they  erred  in  that  they  put  coun- 
try first  and  God  next,  the  things  of  earth  before  the  things  of  heaven,  and 
the  good  they  sought,  they  would  obtain  even  through  wrong  doing.  Yet 
there  is  some  excuse  for  them.  They  were  poor,  ignorant  men,  their  hearts 
were  bitter  with  the  memories  of  wrongs  done  them  and  theirs  at  home  ; it 
was  the  time  of  the  plague,  and  some  of  them  had  seen  it  in  the  dead  eyes  of 
those  they  loved.  They  could  lay  the  blame  of  this  at  England’s  door;  what 
wonder  then  if  the  dark*  thoughts  which  this  bred  in  their  hearts  for  a time 
cast  a shadow  over  the  mind  and  the  soul  as  well. 

Anything  against  England  seemed  right  to  them,  and  any  one  who  hin- 
dered them  from  doing  what  they  believed  would  hurt  her,  appeared  to  do 
them  a wrong.  Father  Gibson  was  an  Englishman.  To  be  sure  the  priest 
knows  no  country  and  would  be  obliged  to  condemn  a wrong  and  a lawless- 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


255 


uess,  no  matter  what  clime  or  tribe  contemplated  it.  He  did  so  in  this  case, 
but  the  fact  that  he  was  of  the  ‘ ‘ tyrant  ’ ’ race,  made  his  hostile  action  all  the 
more  bitter  to  bear,  and  in  this  fact  we  think  can  be  found  some  explanation 
of  the  seeming  impossibility,  a body  of  Catholic  Irishmen  up  in  hot  and  hate- 
ful rebellion  against  their  priest. 

Two  things  made  marked  moments  in  the  history  of  our  people, — the 
famine  with  its  fever,  and  the  folly  of  Know-Nothingism. 

The  famine  came  to  the  Irish  in  the  Spring  of  1847.  After  the  famine 
came  the  fever.  The  whole  civilized  world  (outside  of  England)  was  filled 
with  grief  and  horror  at  the  sounds  of  woe  that  came  from  Ireland.  The 
people  were  choking  the  streams  and  the  ditches  with  the  hundreds  of  their 
dead.  Bishop  Fitzpatrick,  February  6,  1847,  issued  a touching  pastoral  ask- 
ing aid  for  the  stricken  Irish.  The  pastor.  Father  Gibson,  read  the  pastoral 
at  Mass,  and  called  a meeting  of  the  people  to  devise  means  and  ways  for  the 
gathering  of  money.  Before  the  i6th  of  the  following  month  five  hundred 
and  forty-six  dollars  and  fifty  cents  (^546.50)  had  been  collected  and  forwarded 
to  the  bishop.  Elsewhere  in  the  county  the  Catholic  people  had  collected 
and  forwarded  other  moneys,  so  that  Worcester  County  alone  sent  a thousand 
dollars.  This  was  independent  of  the  money  given  by  our  Protestant  fellow- 
citizens,  and  to  the  credit  of  our  Protestant  neighbors,  we  are  glad  to  have 
it  to  say,  that  their  work  and  their  offerings  were  both  quick  and  generous. 
And  let  us  say  for  love’s  sake  that  the  seed  for  gratitude  which  was  in  their 
act  that  time,  fell  on  fertile  soil ; it  blooms  and  bears  fruit  in  the  hearts  of 
the  Catholic  people  still. 

Our  people  who  came  that  year  had  the  fever  with  them,  and  it  soon 
spread.  It  was  a frightful  scourge,  and  was  feared  more  than  the  cholera. 
Two  hundred  died  with  the  plague,  and  many  more  were  sick,  but  care  and 
proper  nursing,  and  that  spirit  of  sympathy  which  ever  lives  in  the  kindly 
Irish  poor,  saved  them. 

Fabouchere  said  in  the  House  of  Commons,  February  ii,  1848,  “Out  of 
one  hundred  and  six  thousand  emigrants  who,  during  the  last  twelve  months 
went  to  Canada  and  New  Brunswick,  six  thousand  one  hundred  perished  in 
the  ships,  four  thousand  one  hundred  died  on  their  arrival,  five  thousand 
two  hundred  died  in  the  hospitals,  and  one  thousand  nine  hundred  in  the 
towns  to  which  they  repaired.”  Thus  the  number  of  deaths  was  seventeen 
thou.sand  three  hundred  (17,300).  The  Mutual  Emigrant  Society  in  its  report 
of  1847,  said,  “ Twenty  thousand  (20,000)  have  gone  down  to  their  graves.” 
That  year  of  the  famine  there  entered  the  port  of  New  York  alone  over  one 
hundred  thousand  (100,000)  Irish. 

It  was  on  November  14,  1847,  that  Father  Boyce  came  to  Worcester  as 
associate  pastor  with  Father  Gibson.  What  a world  of  memory  is  opened  up 
in  the  lives  of  the  old  people  of  this  city  by  the  charm  that  lies  in  that  name. 
Father  Boyce  ! Worcester  has  never  known  his  like.  There  have  been,  and 
there  are  now,  able  priests,  learned  priests,  and  holy  and  kind-hearted  priests 
in  the  city.  The  people  know  them,  respect  them  and  love  them,  but  there 
is  not  now  a Father  Boyce  among  them  all,  nor  has  there  been  since  the  great 


256 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


heart  was  hushed,  and  the  teeming  brain  stilled,  and  the  people  left  the  grand 
figure  sleeping  in  the  sunshine  near  the  pines  he  himself  had  planted,  and  whose 
voice  and  breath  in  life  he  had  loved  so  well.  As  was  to  be  expected,  a new 
zeal  was  awakened  in  Catholic  work  when  Father  Boyce  came.  The  people 
had  increased  in  numbers  through  immigration  and  by  birth.  In  1848  there 
were  407  baptisms.  This  year  there  were  twelve  missions  attended  from  Wor- 
cester, viz.,  Fitchburg,  Webster,  Millbury,  Clintouville,  Milford,  Southbridge, 
Uxbridge,  Templeton,  Barre,  Winchendon,  West  Boylston  and  Hopkinton. 

During  the  pastorate  of  Father  Boyce  was  born  Know-Nothingism.  We 
know  what  it  means,  even  to-day,  and  its  ugly  child,  Apaism,  bears  on  its 
face  the  distorted  lineaments  of  its  sire  of  1854.  “ Catholicity  had  prospered 

in  the  United  States,”  says  a Catholic  historian,  “for  more  than  fifty  years, 
under  the  protection  of  the  more  liberal  principles  embodied  in  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  and  the  gradual  removal  of  penal  or  disabling  laws.” 

The  freedom  which  Catholics  had  enjoyed  had  never  been  abused.  They 
had  borne  their  part  with  their  fellow-citizens  in  developing  the  resources  of 
the  country,  increasing  its  wealth  and  prosperity.  They  had  marched  shoulder 
to  shoulder  with  the  bravest  to  meet  the  Indian  foe  or  the  foreign  enemy. 
They  had  no  share  in  the  secession  plans  of  the  Northeast,  or  the  revolution- 
ary plans  of  the  Southwest.  They  had  erected  churches,  colleges,  academies 
and  schools  for  the  religious,  moral  and  intellectual  training  of  their  mem- 
bers ; they  were  caring  for  the  orphans.  There  was  nothing  in  their  record 
to  afford  a basis  for  any  revival  of  the  ancient  spirit  of  persecution  and  oppres- 
sion. Yet  there  was  a steadily  increasing  current  of  thought  hostile  to  them 
in  the  country,  nurtured  mainly  by  publications  from  the  British  Isles  ; a 
strong  anti-Catholic  literature,  evoked  by  the  agitation  in  favor  of  Catholic 
Emancipation.  Many  of  these  things  were  reprinted  here  and  widely  circu- 
lated ; old  prejudices  were  revived,  and  the  unscrupulous  soon  found  that  new 
contributions  would  be  readily  welcomed  without  too  close  a scrutiny.  How 
sharp  the  contrast  between  this  spirit  and  the  words  of  the  venerable  Charles 
Carroll,  of  Carrollton,  to  George  Washington  Custis : “When  I signed  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  I had  in  view  not  only  our  independence  of 
England,  but  the  toleration  of  all  sects  professing  the  Christian  religion,  and 
communicating  to  them  equal  rights.” 

The  Catholics  of  Worcester  had  been  successful,  and  had  grown  to  im- 
portance in  the  community.  They  were,  therefore,  made  the  object  of  sense- 
less and  bitter  attack.  So  high  did  feeling  run,  that  the  church  property 
was  in  danger  of  destruction.  Father  Boyce  at  this  juncture  took  the  keys 
of  the  church  to  the  mayor  of  the  city,  saying,  “ On  your  head,  sir,  I place 
the  responsibility  for  the  protection  of  our  church.  If  you  do  not  protect  it. 
we  will ; but  at  the  city’s  door  will  lie  the  blame.”  Our  young  men  follow- 
ing that  soldier  instinct  that  lightens  through  our  blood,  had  formed  them- 
selves into  a militar}^  company  in  1852.  Governor  Gardiner  ordered,  in 
obedience  to  the  ignorant  cry  of  the  Know-Nothings,  their  disbandment  in 
1855.  In  a few  years  the  tocsin  sounded  for  war,  and  the  skies  were  black 
and  red.  Brave  men  were  needed,  for  the  foe  was  at  the  nation’s  throat, 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


25T 


The  Jackson  Guards,  founded  in  1858,  rose  like  the  men  they  were.  Father 
Boyce  blessed  their  battle  flags,  blessed  them,  and  bade  them  go ; and  so  in- 
deed, first  in  the  land,  forgetting  insult  and  distrust,  and  humiliation,  they 
signed  the  enlistment  rolls,  and  carrying  in  their  bosom  the  warmest  and 
tenderest,  and  bravest,  and  best  hearts  of  our  people,  before  others  awakened, 
were  away  to  the  Southland,  and  on  the  battlefields,  amid  the  horrors  of  the 
strife,  made,  forever  red  and  beautiful  in  their  blood,  the  noble  record  of 
Worcester’s  Catholic  soldiers. 

Father  Boyce  was  associate  pastor  until  1856,  when  on  the  going  of 
Father  Gibson  he  became  sole  pastor,  and  thus  remained  until  his  death, 
January  2,  1864.  He  was  succeeded  by  Rev. 'P.  T.  O’Reilly,  afterwards  Bishop 
of  Springfield,  who  retained  the  pastoral  care  of  St.  John’s  until  September 
25,  1870,  when  he  was  created  Bishop  of  Springfield.  Then  Rev.  Thomas 
Griffin,  who  had  been  his  assistant  since  July,  1867,  was  named  chancellor  of 
the  new  diocese,  and  administrator  of  the  parish  of  St.  John’s.  He  was  made 
its  permanent  rector  May  30,  1885. 

The  hardest  worker  in  the  diocese  of  Springfield  is  Rt.  Rev.  Thomas 
Griffin,  D.  D.,  pastor  of  St.  John’s.  This  is  the  largest  as  it  is  the  oldest 
parish  of  the  diocese ; and  Father  Griffin,  in  addition  to  the  enormous  labor 
of  this  pastorate,  has  since  the  consecration  of  Bishop  O’Reilly,  in  1870, 
borne  the  extra  burden  of  the  chancellorship.  He  has  built  and  maintained 
since  1872,  under  the  care  of  the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame  and  at  a high  stand- 
ard of  excellence,  the  largest  schools  for  girls  in  the  diocese.  In  1891  he 
built  for  boys  a school  capable  of  answering  the  needs  of  six  hundred  scholars. 
This  building  is,  perhaps,  the  finest  and  best  apportioned  for  school  purposes 
in  the  city.  He  now  had  the  Zaverian  Brothers  in  charge  of  his  boys  and  build- 
ing. This  accomplished,  he  had  aright  to  feel  that  he  had  done  his  duty  along 
educational  lines  to  church  and  neighbor,  and  had  earned  title  to  Catholic  grati- 
tude and  some  of  the  sweets  of  rest.  But  he  never  rests.  When  a curate  and 
hardly  a year  ordained,  he  purchased  a church  for  the  people  of  Holden  ; 
next  he  built  a church  at  Stoneville,  and  when  Shrewsbury  was  taken  from 
Worcester  and  attached  to  West  Boylston  parish,  the  new  pastor  found  a neat 
sum  in  the  bank,  left  there  by  Father  Griffin  as  a nucleus  for  a mission  church. 

In  1871  he  began  the  formation  of  the  parish  of  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception in  Worcester;  and,  in  1880,  reared  the  walls  and  roof  of  the  church 
of  the  Sacred  Heart.  His  last  work  in  parish  building  was  the  choosing 
of  the  site  for  St.  Stephen’s.  The  Bartlett  estate  on  the  heights  opposite 
Mariemonte,  on  Vernon  street,  was  purchased  by  Father  Griffin  in  1886  ; and 
in  the  fall  of  1893,  Bishop  Beaven  helped  the  fulfillment  of  his  long-cherished 
hopes,  by  sending  the  Sisters  of  Providence  to  found  there  a hospital  for  the 
sick,  and  an  asylum  for  the  old.  In  recognition  of  his  great  labors,  and  at 
the  earnest  solicitation  of  Bishop  O’Reilly,  the  Holy  Father,  in  1889,  made 
Father  Griffin  a domestic  prelate,  and  in  the  next  month,  his  Alma  Mater, 
St.  Mary’s,  Baltimore,  honored  him  with  the  Doctorate  of  Divinity.  Mon- 
signor Griffin  is  now  in  his  sixty-third  year,  and  has  been  about  thirty-two 
years  a priest. 


258 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


He  is  a strong  man,  of  clear  head  and  honest  heart.  His  learning  is 
more  solid  and  serious  than  showy ; hence  it  is  that  many  inferior  men  have 
more  reputation.  He  is  not  an  orator  ; but  no  man  of  the  Springfield  diocese 
can  talk  sounder  sense  or  fill  his  sermons  with  greater  weight  of  truth’s  real 
gold.  He  works  morning,  noon,  and  night.  The  old  bishop,  who  was  his 
closest  friend  on  earth,  used  playfully  to  find  fault  with  him  for  expecting  his 
assistants  to  work  morning,  noon,  and  night,  when,  as  the  bishop  would  add, 
“God  did  not  build  them  on  the  same  lines.” 

Monsignor  Griffin  does  not  work  for  self.  He  has  had  the  revenues  of  a 
large  and  generous  parish  for  years  ; yet  those  who  know  him  best,  know 
him  to  be  a poor  man,  who  has  spent  his  means  in  God’s  work,  and  is  now 
wearing  out  a good  life  in  ceaseless  watching  of  church  and  school  and  con- 
vent and  hospital.  He  will  work  to  the  end.  He  says  of  himself.-  “ I shall 
fall  in  the  harness.” 

Rev.  Thomas  Griffin,  D.D.,  was  born  in  Cork,  Ireland,  in  1836.  His 
early  studies  were  made  with  the  Christian  Brothers  in  his  native  city.  He 
came  to  Salem,  Mass.,  in  his  sixteenth  year.  After  some  years  of  work 
wherein  he  earned  a competency,  he  began,  at  the  advice  of  Rev.  Thomas 
Shahan,  now  pastor  of  the  Sacred  Heart  church,  Malden,  the  study  of  classics 
at  St.  Charles’  College,  Maryland.  He  made  his  philosophical  and  theological 
studies  in  St.  Mary’s  Seminary,  Baltimore,  and  was  there  ordained  June  29, 
1867.  In  July  following  he  was  appointed  by  Bishop  Williams  to  St.  John’s, 
Worcester,  and  all  his  life  since  has  he  labored  here. 

The  curates  of  this  parish  have  been  Rev.  Fathers  T. 'A.  McAvoy, 
Reardon,  Williamson,  Iv’Eveque,  Quaille,  Noiseux,  Dolan,  D.  O’Keefe, 
Kenny,  P.  J.  Garrigan,  Robert  Walsh,  T.  J.  Conaty,  McCourt,  J.  J.  O’Keefe, 
M.  J.  Murphy,  J.  L.  Tarpey,  D.  H.  O’Neil,  Charles  Grace,  James  Donahoe,  J. 
J.  McCoy,  D.  Higgins,  P.  H.  Gallen,  W.  T.  Finneran,  James  M.  Cruse,  W. 
C.  McCaughan,  T.  P.  McDonnell,  W.  H.  Adrain,  J.  A.  O’Malley.  At  the 
present  time  Revs.  C.  M.  Foley,  M.  S.  O’Brien,  O.  A.  Sullivan,  and  J.  A. 
Hurley  assist  Father  Griffin  in  the  work  of  the  parish. 

Eighty  people  were  present  when  the  first  congregation  began  in  Wor- 
cester. They  were  then  “ Irish  emigrants.’’  At  present  the  parish  has 
upwards  of  eleven  thousand  people,  who  are  Irish  by  birth  or  lineage. 

From  1833  to  1893  there  have  been  22,906  baptisms,  and  5,283  marriages. 
From  1833  to  1843  there  were  36  conversions.  We  find  no  record  thence- 
forward until  1873.  From  1873  to  1893  there  have  been  27. 

The  parish  now  controls  St.  John’s  brick  church,  the  Catholic  Institute, 
a brick  presbytery,  the  Brother’s  monastery  in  brick,  the  Sisters’  chapel,  a 
fine  brick  school  for  boys,  between  Temple  and  Winter  streets,  and  the  brick 
school  for  girls  on  Vernon  street.  Also  considerable  land  with  dwelling  house 
fronting  on  Temple  street,  and  a large  cemetery  in  new  Worcester.  At  the 
present  writing  Monsignor  Griffin  is  busy  with  the  building  of  a magnificent 
convent  home,  in  brick  and  stone,  for  the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame  on  Vernon 
street.  When  the  parish  school  for  girls  opened  in  1872,  with  a complete 
grammar  course,  three  hundred  children  came.  At  the  end  of  the  first  year 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


259 


there  were  five  hundred  and  fifty.  This  year  (1899)  the  grammar  grades  and 
the  four  grades  of  high  school  work,  have  in  them  eleven  hundred  children 
under  charge  of  34  Sisters.  The  Christian  Brothers  opened  school  on 
Temple  street,  in  1888,  with  two  hundred  and  forty  boys  working  in  six 
grades.  These  teachers  remained  but  eighteen  months.  The  Zaveriau 
Brothers  came  to  St.  John’s  in  1894.  They  teach  nine  grades,  and  have 
three  hundred  boys  in  their  care.  In  the  same  building  the  Sisters  of  Notre 
Dame  teach  one  hundred  and  twenty  boys  more,  in  the  first  two  primary 
grades. 

The  people  of  the  parish  are  of  the  ordinary  working  class,  like  all  in 
the  Catholic  parishes.  Many,  however,  are  in  the  liberal  professions.  This 
parish  has  been  especially  prolific  in  its  great  number  of  young  men  sent  to 
the  priesthood,  and  its  young  women,  to  the  religious  life.  The  people  as  a 
body  are  poor,  but  the  opportunities  for  education  given  their  children  for 
many  years,  has  made  them  especially  well  educated  and  refined.  In  spite 
of  their  great  numbers  they  have  small  civic  or  social  influence.  They 
have  the  racial  weakness  of  jealousy ; but  when  this  is  put  aside  and  they 
unite,  they  have  great  political  power.  The  tendency  of  the  young  people 
in  the  parish  towards  societies  and  club  life  is  marked  to  an  inordinate 
degree,  and  is  bewailed  by  the  pastor  as  weakening  the  foundation  of  stable 
family  life. 

Yet  the  parish  has  had  many  eminent  men  in  its  life.  Judge  Matthew 
J.  McCafferty,  raised  to  the  Massachusetts  bench  by  Governor  Benjamin  But- 
ler, and  the  first  Catholic  to  receive  such  honor  in  the  history  of  the  State, 
from  early  manhood  was  a devoted  and  dutiful  son.  Judge  McCafferty  was 
the  Democratic  candidate  for  the  Governorship  of  the  State  in  18 — . Mr. 
Andrew  Athy,  who  for  thirteen  years  was  a member  of  the  Common  Council, 
for  six  years  an  alderman,  for  one  term  a representative  in  the  State  Degis- 
ture  and  in  1867  the  Democratic  candidate  for  Mayor,  was  nigh  to  fifty  years 
a member  of  this  parish  and  a man  of  influence  in  its  concerns  and  in  the 
public  life  of  the  city  aud  State.  Many  others  have  been  members  of  the 
State  Legislature,  the  most  widely  known  of  whom  is  James  H.  Mellen,  now 
the  “dean”  of  that  body.  George  Crompton,  the  great  inventor  of  the 
Crompton  Loom,  whose  shuttles  are  flying  everywhere  in  the  cloth-making 
world,  and  who  revolutionized  this  industry,  was  baptized  on  his  death-bed  a 
member  of  St.  John’s  church. 

Were  it  within  the  province  of  the  writer  to  speak  at  length  of  things  not 
immediately  connected  with  the  church,  he  has  it  in  his  power  to  make  as 
brilliant  a page  as  ever  the  covers  of  a book  enclosed,  in  the  telling  of  the 
heroic  deeds  of  the  soldier  sons  of  St.  John’s — like  McCafferty,  the  McCon- 
villes.  Captain  Tom  O’Neil,  Lieutenant  Daly,  Captain  McLane,  Captain 
Chandley  and  the  rank  and  flle  of  the  historic  Jackson  Guards.  Most  of  the 
men  and  many  of  the  officers  in  Company  G,  Emmett  Guards,  Ninth  Regi- 
ment, who  knew  the  hardships  at  the  siege  of  Santiago  last  year,  also  belonged 
here. 


260 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


ST.  ANNE’S  CHURCH, 

Worcester. 

|EV.  JOHN  J.  POWER,  now  the  Very  Rev.  Vicar  General  of  the  dio- 
cese, was  made  the  first  pastor  of  the  new  church  of  St.  Anne  on 
August  6th,  1856.  When  appointed  to  the  parish,  though  the 
church  had  been  built,  it  was  not  in  Catholic  hands.  Its  history 
was  this:  A considerable  body  of  Canadians  came  to  Worcester  before  1852. 
That  year  they  believed  themselves  strong  enough  in  numbers  to  undertake 
the  building  of  a church  for  their  special  benefit.  With  this  purpose  in  view 
they  bought  a plot  of  land  on  Shrewsbury  street  at  a cost  of  five  hundred 
dollars.  The  next  spring  for  sixty-two  dollars  more  they  added  to  this  lot. 
They  planned  a church  sixty  feet  long  by  thirty  feet  wide,  and  began  at  once 
the  building  of  the  foundations.  Some  how  while  the  work  was  advancing 
they  were  given  hope  of  securing  the  old  “Christ  church,’’  which  now, 
since  the  building  of  St.  John’s  church,  was  unused.  This  hope  never  ma- 
tured. They  delayed  meanwhile  putting  their  original  plans  into  execution, 
and  the  longer  they  delayed  the  less  courage  they  had  to  undertake  the  work 
at  all.  As  a makeshift  they  proposed  the  buying  of  an  old  Protestant  meet- 
ing house  on  Thomas  street.  The  price  was  agreed  upon ; but  those  who 
held  the  right  of  sale,  learning  the  use  to  which  the  building  was  to  be  put, 
refused  to  sign  the  deeds.  Father  L’Eveque  was  the  active  spirit  in  this 
movement  of  the  Canadians.  Just  at  this  time  they  lost  his  services,  and  dis- 
couraged, they  formed  themselves  into  a racial  society  called  St.  Jean  Bap- 
tiste, rather  than  into  a Catholic  congregation.  Another  year  did  not  bring 
them  more  strength  or  courage.  The  idea  of  a church  for  the  use  of  the 
Canadians  alone  was  entirely  abandoned,  and  the  money  already  in  hand  was 
passed  over  to  Father  Gibson,  the  pastor  of  St.John’s.  He  determined  to 
build  immediately,  and  in  1854  began  the  building  of  St.  Anne’s.  He  en- 
larged the  foundations  on  Shrewsbury  street,  and  contracted  with  Henry 
Murray  in  the  midsummer  of  1855  to  erect  and  finish  the  church,  which 
would  cost  six  thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  He  and  Father  John  Boyce 
at  this  time  were  pastors  ex  cequo  at  St.  John’s.  They  did  not  agree  con- 
cerning the  need  of  a new  church  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  city.  Father 
Boyce  believed  that  St.  John’s,  with  galleries  running  its  whole  length,  would 
be  amply  large  for  the  Catholic  people  for  years  then  to  come.  Father  Gib- 
son did  not  believe  this,  and  put  his  ideas  into  immediate  effect,  and  the 
church  of  St.  Anne  rose  up  under  his  care.  It  was  a severe  labor,  the  build- 
ing of  a church  at  this  time.  Money  was  scarce,  and  the  priests  who  under- 
took any  form  of  church  work  needing  money  were  obliged  to  go  about  from 
house  to  house  themselves.  Father  Gibson  took  up  a general  collection  all 
over  the  city  for  the  benefit  of  this  church.  While  he  was  laboring  for  St. 
Anne’s,  Father  Boyce  was  doing  a like  work  for  the  enlargement  of  St.John’s. 
There  were  no  parish  lines  then,  and  very  often  the  priests  met  in  the  same 
house,  or  the  people  frequently,  while  bidding  Father  Gibson  good  night  and 
God  speed  in  his  work  for  St.  Anne’s,  in  the  same  breath  welcomed  Father 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


261 


Boyce,  and  helped  him,  when  able,  in  his  zealous  labor  for  St.  John’s.  Both 
churches  were  benefited,  and  the  benefit  to  both  was  needed.  From  Novem- 
ber, 1854,  to  January,  1856,  Father  Gibson  collected  for  St.  Anne’s,  one  thou- 
sand, one  hundred  and  five  dollars  and  eighty -one  cents,  while  he  expended  one 
thousand  three  hundred  and  eighty-three  dollars  and  five  cents.  The  differ- 
ence was  paid  from  his  personal  money.  In  1856  Father  Gibson  went  away 
from  Worcester.  The  church  was  still  unfinished,  and  the  payments  due  could 
not  be  met.  Father  Gibson  was  obliged  during  the  erection  of  the  church, 
in  order  to  keep  the  builders  moving,  to  raise  mortgages,  and  when,  after  his 
departure,  payments  were  not  to  be  had  on  the  mortgages,  the  building  was 
sold  at  public  auction.  The  man  holding  the  second  mortgage  bought  it  for 
seven  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars.  It  was  then  that  Father  Power  came, 
August  7th,  1856.  For  one  thousand  dollars  he  rescued  the  church  from  the 
mortgagee.  There  was  also  a bill  for  lumber  of  seven  hundred  and  forty-two 
dollars  and  fifty-four  cents  due.  The  money  needed  was  furnished  by  Bishop 
Fitzpatrick.  Father  Power  at  once  completed  the  church  building,  and  it  was 
dedicated  to  God  under  the  patronage  of  St.  Anne  on  Christmas  day  that 
same  year.  Father  Power  said  the  Mass  of  the  dedication,  and  Rev.  James  A. 
Healy,  now  the  bishop  of  Portland,  preached  the  sermon.  This  church  of 
St.  Anne  completed  by  Father  Power  was  used  by  the  congregation  until  Oc- 
tober, 1885.  It  had,  in  the  meantime,  been  repaired  and  renovated  again 
and  again  until  the  further  expenditure  of  money  in  this  line  was  not  con- 
sidered advisable.  During  Father  Power’s  first  years  in  the  parish  a little 
house  on  Shrewsbury  street  made  a home  for  him.  He  built  a small  rectory 
next  to  the  church  in  1863.  This  building  one  year  later  he  gave  as  a con- 
vent home  to  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  whom  he  called  from  New  York  for  parish 
work,  October  24th,  1864.  Father  Power  built  a small  hospital  wherein  sick 
servant  girls  and  the  poor  of  his  parish  might  find  a restful  home,  and  this 
he  placed  under  the  kindly  care  of  the  sisters.  Here  we  find  the  first  public 
hospital  that  Worcester  ever  knew,  and  here  was  the  first  home  of  the  Sisters 
of  Mercy  in  our  diocese.  Exactly  ten  years  after  the  coming  of  Father  Power 
to  Worcester,  in  the  midsummer  of  1866,  he  purchased  a lot  of  land  on  Main 
street  for  a new  church,  and  immediately  thereafter  began  the  construction 
of  St.  Paul’s.  Rev.  Denis  Scannell,  his  assistant,  was  made  the  pastor  of 
St.  Anne’s,  October  ist,  1872.  Two  years  after  becoming  the  pastor  he  built 
a parochial  residence  on  Shrewsbury  street.  Almost  at  the  same  time  he  re- 
paired and  frescoed  the  old  church.  The  congregation  was  meanwhile 
rapidly  growing,  and  soon  the  old  church  could  not  seat  them;  moreover  its 
location  was  neither  sightly,  nor,  for  the  majority  of  the  parishioners,  con- 
venient. At  this  juncture,  Father  Scannell  purchased  from  the  State  authori- 
ties in  1881,  four  acres  of  land  on  Normal  Hill.  It  was  then  a pasture  land, 
and  not  a house  was  in  the  neighorhood.  He  planned  a magnificent  new 
church,  and  broke  ground  for  its  foundations  before  the  coming  of  the  winter 
that  same  year.  The  next  year,  1882,  he  began  the  building  of  the  base- 
ment. The  corner-stone  was  laid  on  June  15,  1884,  by  Right  Rev.  Bishop 
O’Reilly.  The  famous  Dr.  McGlynn,  then  of  St.  Stephen’s,  New  York, 


262 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


preached  the  sermon.  All  the  Catholic  societies  in  the  city  were  in  parade, 
and  the  great  hillside  was  covered  with  thousands  of  our  glad  people.  The 
basement  was  completed  and  Mass  was  said  therein  for  the  first  time,  Octo- 
ber II,  1 885,  by  Rev.  J.  J.  Power,  the  first  pastor  of  old  St.  Anne’s,  and  who  had 
said  the  first  l\Iass  within  the  parish  limits  twenty-nine  years  before.  Rev.  R. 
S.  J.  Burke  preached  the  sermon  at  the  Mass,  and  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Conaty  did 
a like  service  at  the  evening  Vespers.  The  beautiful  church  was  completed  and 
dedicated  to  God  with  magnificent  ceremonies,  October  21,  1891,  by  Right 
Rev.  Bishop  O’Reilly,  while  the  sermon  of  the  dedication  was  preached  by 
Rev.  J.  J.  Power,  D.  D , V.  G.,  at  the  Mass.  Rev.  Thomas  D.  Beaven,  D.D.,  now 
Bishop  of  Springfield,  preached  at  the  vesper  service.  The  church  is  built  at 
the  juncture  of  Eastern  avenue  and  Gage  street,  and  stands  upon  the  most 
beautiful  site  within  the  city’s  limits.  It  may  be  seen  for  many  miles.  It 
is  one  hundred  and  forty-three  feet  long  and  sixty-nine  feet  wide.  It  is  built 
of  brick  with  granite  trimmings;  the  basement  is  also  in  granite.  It  is  in 
Gothic  style  of  architecture,  and  is  the  work  of  architect  P.  W.  Ford  of  Bos- 
ton. It  is  said  to  be  the  most  beautiful  church  in  the  city  of  Worcester.  It 
seats  one  thousand,  one  hundred  and  fifty  people.  In  1891,  Father  Scanned 
built  at  the  rear  of  the  church  on  the  high  hill,  a handsome  and  commodious 
rectory.  The  parish  has  to-day  its  beautiful  church,  rectory,  land  adjoining, 
and  a small  stable.  The  whole  property  is  valued  at  more  than  one  hundred 
and  thirty-five  thousand  dollars.  Rev.  Denis  Scanned  died,  August  20th, 

1 899.  He  had  been  ailing  off  and  on  for  some  years,  but  a severe  attack  of 
Bright’s  disease  some  weeks  before  left  him  without  sufficient  strength  to 
rally.  From  the  Tuesday  before  his  death  he  was  unconscious,  and  when 
the  great  bed  of  St.  Ann’s  at  four  o’clock  on  Sunday  afternoon  tolled  sorrow- 
fully, the  stroke  fed  on  every  heart,  for  the  people  knew  that  the  priest  beloved 
was  gone.  After  Father  Power,  he  was  the  oldest  clergyman,  gauged  by  time 
of  service,  iu  the  city.  He  was  very  much  beloved,  and  priests  came  from 
every  corner  of  New  England  to  his  funeral  the  Wednesday  following.  He 
lay  in  death,  guarded  by  his  faithful  people,  before  the  great  altar  in  his 
church,  from  Monday  afternoon  until  Wednesday  after  the  IMass  of  Requiem. 
The  church  was  open  ad  day  and  the  whole  night  long,  and  every  two  hours  a 
priest  said  the  litanies  and  the  prayers  for  the  dead  publicly,  while  the  great 
body  of  peoj^le  present  answered  him.  Before  the  saying  of  the  Pontifical 
]\Iass  six  public  IMasses  were  said  in  the  church  for  his  soul.  One  was  cele- 
brated at  five  o’clock  by  Rev.  Father  Daly,  one  at  six  by  Rev.  Thomas  Sha- 
han  of  Washington,  one  at  half  past  six  by  Rev.  W.  E.  Hartigan,  one  at 
seven  by  Rev'.  P.  F.  Higgins  of  Peoria,  Ilks.,  and  one  at  half  past  seven  by 
Rev.  J.  T.  McKeon  of  Canton.  A solemn  High  Mass  at  eight  o’clock  was 
celebrated  hy  Rev.  R.  F.  Walsh  of  Easthampton.  The  Pontifical  High  Mass 
of  requiem  was  sung  as  ten  o’clock,  by  Bishop  Beaven,  assisted  by  Rev. 
Thomas  Shahan,  D.D.,  of  Washington,  deacon.  Rev.  D.  H.  O’Neil,  sub-dea- 
con, Rev.  J.  F.  Eehy,  S.  J.,  high  priest ; Rev.  M.  A.  O’Brien  of  Bangor,  and 
Rev.  J.  F.  Redican  of  Leicester,  were  deacon  of  honor.  The  sermon,  a tender 
and  beautiful  expression  of  a priest’s  measure  of  another  priest’s  life,  was 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


263 


delivered  by  Rev.  J.  P.  Coyle  of  Taunton.  He  said  : “ His  confessional  was 
a ‘ place  of  weepers,’ a realm  where  sorrow  and  gladness  struggled  for  the 
mastery.  The  faltering  prodigal  might  go  there  and  expect  divine  pity  ; the 
Magdalene,  who  had  erred  and  wandered,  knew  that  there  again  was  the  house 
of  the  leper,  with  its  record  of  sympathy  and  pardon.  What  an  army  must 
have  greeted  you,  on  the  shores  of  the  Great  Beyond  ! O,  dead  exemplar  of 
tenderness  and  charity  ! The  multitudes  won  during  almost  thirty  years  of 
faithful  service,  in  the  pulpit,  in  the  confessional  and  on  the  altar,  were  there 
to  welcome  their  guide  and  friend  and  father. 

But  his  best  monument  is  not  this  queenly  edifice,  towering  high  as  it 
does,  like  the  guardian  spirit  of  this  fair  city.  His  real  monument  is  in  the 
hearts  of  the  widow  and  orphan,  the  pain-wrung  and  afflicted.  These  have 
lost  a friend,  and  may  well  mourn  him  who  will  come  no  more.  The  poor 
were  his  special  love,  his  special  predilection.  ‘ Silver  and  gold  have  I 
none,’  he  conld  often  say  with  the  apostle,  when,  like  Martin  of  Tours,  the 
coat  from  his  back,  the  shoes  from  his  feet,  were  given  to  some  shivering 
member  of  Je.sus  Christ.” 

Rev.  Denis  Scannell  was  born  in  the  county  of  Kerry,  Ireland,  in  July, 
1846.  His  grand-uncle,  a distinguished  priest  and  teacher  of  classics,  pre- 
pared him  for  college.  This  good  man  died  when  Father  Scannell  was  eigh- 
teen years  old,  and  the  youth  came  to  this  country.  He  studied  for  a period 
at  St.  Charles’  College,  Maryland,  and  then  entered  the  theological  seminary 
at  Alleghany,  New  York,  where  he  was  ordained  June  20,  1870.  For  a time 
he  was  “locum  tenens  ” at  Blackstone,  and,  on  the  appointment  of  Rev. 
William  Power  as  pastor  of  Blackstone,  Father  Scannell  was  appointed  in 
his  stead  assistant  to  Father  John  Power,  of  St.  Anne’s,  October,  1870.  Two 
years  later  he  was  named  the  successor  to  Father  Power  in  the  pastorate  of 
St.  Anne’s.  Father  Scannell  was  an  nnaffected,  kind-hearted  man,  honest  in 
every  thought  and  act.  It  might  be  said  that  no  priest  in  New  England  was 
more  beloved  by  his  fellow  priests  than  he.  In  times  of  grief  or  joy.  Father 
Scannell  was  appointed  deacon  of  the  ceremonies,  and,  because  of  this,  he  was 
pleasantly  called  the  “diocesan  deacon.”  This  little  incident  alone  goes  to 
show  how  universally  beloved  he  was.  That  he  was  capable  of  great  work, 
severe  and  long  continued,  the  excellent  condition  of  the  parish  property  at 
the  time  of  his  death  amply  proves.  He  found  in  St.  Anne’s  a small  wooden 
church  at  his  coming,  bnt  he  left  it  with  a magnificent  temple  of  brick  and 
stone,  with  a splendid  presbytery  and  grounds  adjoining.  No  man  ever  had 
an  unkind  thought  or  word  to  say  against  Father  Scannell ; and  so  innocent 
was  his  life  that  the  priests  believed  the  alb  he  put  spotless  on  his  shoulders 
the  day  of  ordination,  was  still  white  when  they  laid  him  away  for  his  eternal 
rest.  He  was  succeeded,  within  the  month  following  his  funeral,  by  Rev. 
James  P.  Tuite,  who  at  that  time  was  pastor  of  Brookfield. 

The  curates  of  this  parish  have  been  Revs.  John  Conway,  from  Feb- 
ruary 8,  1874,  to  September  10,  1876;  J.  E.  Gafrity,  from  November  8,  1876, 
to  his  death,  November  2,  1877  ; J,  P.  Tuite,  from  January  13,  1878,  to  May  4, 
1880;  J.  B.  Drennan,  from  May  30,  1880,  to  November  20,  1887  ; E.  D.  Casey, 


264 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


from  January  14,  1883,  to  January  4,  1886  ; Rev.  E.  F.  Brosnihan,  from  July  19, 
1887,  until  August,  1899;  Thomas  Fitzgerald,  from  July  ii,  1887,  to  Febru- 
ary, 1890;  William  F,  Hartigan,  from  January  5,  1890,  and  who  is  still  on 
duty. 

When  St.  Anne’s  was  made  a parish  there  were  no  parish  limits,  hence 
we  cannot  now  tell  how  many  people  made  up  the  first  congregation;  the 
people  now  number  upwards  of  five  thousand,  and  are  entirely  Irish,  or  of 
Irish  origin.  From  the  foundation  of  the  parish  to  January,  1898,  there  have 
been  3963  baptisms,  and  845  marriages. 

Father  Scannell’s  appreciation  of  his  own  people  has  an  added  and 
pathetic  interest  now  when  he  is  dead.  “My  people,”  he  said,  in  reply  to  the 
bishop’s  question,  “occupy  good  positions  in  this  community.  There  are 
none  of  large  wealth,  but  many  own  their  own  homes,  and  are  in  comfortable 
circumstances.  A fair  proportion  are  engaged  in  business.  The  parish  is 
represented  in  all  of  the  professions,  and,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
people,  more  young  men  have  been  educated  for  the  priesthood  in  this  parish 
than  in  any  of  the  others  in  Worcester.  The  people  are  temperate,  indus- 
trious and  contented.” 

ST.  PAUL’S  CHURCH, 

Worcester. 

IN  the  early  sixties  it  became  evident  to  Father  Power,  then  pastor  at  St. 
Anne’s,  that  a new  church  was  needed  by  the  Catholic  people  then  be- 
ginning to  come  in  great  numbers  into  the  west  side  of  the  city.  This 
grew  upon  him  so  that  in  August,  1866,  he  felt  himself  justified  in  pre- 
suming help  enough  to  build  a church  in  that  neighborhood,  and  he  took  the 
first  step  towards  that  consummation  by  the  purcha.se  of  the  pear  orchards, 
then  at  the  corner  of  Main  and  Chatham  streets,  and  which  belonged  then  to 
two  of  Worcester’s  stanchest  citizens,  George  T.  Rice  and  John  Milton  Earle. 
He  paid  fifteen  thousand  dollars  for  this  plot  of  land.  Father  Power’s  first 
intention  was  to  front  the  new  church  upon  Main  street,  but  learning  that  the 
city  contemplated  the  leveling  of  the  hill  on  which  it  was  to  stand,  he  decided 
to  build  farther  back  and  front  the  church  on  High  street.  Seven  thousand 
one  hundred  dollars  were  subscribed  towards  the  erection  of  the  church  in  a 
public  meeting  of  the  Catholics  of  Worcester,  called  in  January,  1867.  In 
the  spring  of  1868  ground  was  broken,  and  on  the  fourth  day  of  July,  1869, 
the  granite  basement  was  completed,  roofed,  and  the  first  Mass  was  said  therein 
by  the  Rt.  Rev.  John  J.  Williams,  Bishop  of  Boston.  Rev.  James  Fitton,  the 
builder  of  the  first  church  in  Worcester,  preached  the  sermon.  It  was  the 
occasion  of  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone.  Thereafter  services  were  held 
regularly  in  the  basement  while  the  walls  of  the  superstructure  were  in  course 
of  construction.  After  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone  Father  Power  gave  up 
the  care  of  the  missions  of  Grafton  and  Millbury,  which  he  had  attended  since 
November  3,  1858,  and  gave  his  services  to  the  new  church.  October  i,  1872, 
during  the  absence  of  the  bishop  he  was  the  administrator  of  the  diocese,  and 
therefore  of  Worcester  county,  and  as  administrator  he  could  exercise  juris- 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


265 


diction  throughout  the  diocese.  He  relinquished  the  pastorate  of  old  St. 
Anne’s,  appointed  his  curate,  Rev.  Denis  Scannell,  thereto  in  his  stead, 
and  came  to  live  as  pastor  of  the  new  parish  of  St.  Paul.  Just  five  years  from 
the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  the  church  was  fully  completed  (1874)  except 
the  tower.  It  was  dedicated  by  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  O’Reilly,  and  the  sermon 
for  the  dedication  was  preached  by  Rt.  Rev.  James  A.  Healy,  Bishop  of  Port- 
land. The  tower  of  the  church  was  built  in  1889.  Originally  the  design  of 
the  church  called  for  a lofty  spire,  but  the  tower  appealed  to  the  corrected 
taste  as  more  in  keeping  with  the  character  of  the  bnilding.  The  church, 
which  is  built  of  dark  granite  trimmed  with  the  same  material  in  a lighter 
shade,  is  one  hundred  and  sixty  eight  feet  long,  ninety-one  feet  wide,  and 
ninety-six  feet  to  the  apex.  It  is  cruciform,  stands  on  a commanding  site, 
and  is  acknowledged  the  finest  church  in  all  Worcester. 

The  first  day  of  January,  1895,  the  church  was  out  of  debt  and  there  was  par- 
ish money  in  the  bank.  January  i,  1898,  Dr.  Power  announced  to  his  delighted 
people  that  there  were  ten  thousand  dollars  drawing  interest  for  the  parish. 
The  records  show  that  Father  Power  has  raised  for  parish  purposes  a quarter  of 
a million  of  dollars  in  the  thirty-two  years  of  his  pastorate.  This  was  done  by 
assessments.  Every  person  in  the  pari.sh  who  was  eighteen  years  of  age  and 
a wage-earner  was  expected  to  contribute  one  dollar  a month.  Everything 
was  quiet,  everything  was  exact,  and  the  magnificent  results  proved  the  wisdom 
of  Father  Power’s  plan. 

Father  Power’s  curates  have  been : Revs.  W.  A.  Power,  his  brother,  from 
July,  1866,  to  October  6,  1870;  D.  Scannell,  from  October  10,  1870,  to  October 
I,  1872;  J.  B.  Couillard,  from  April  16,  1871,  to  May  i,  1871  ; M.  Carroll,  from 
May  I,  1871,10  March  15,  1872;  B.  O’Reilly,  from  March  24,  1872,  to  July  i, 
1872  ; E.  P.  McCourt,  from  July  17,  1872,  to  February  10,  1874;  Thomas  W. 
Allen,  from  March  17,  1873,  to  April  23,  1877  ; D.  H.  O’Neil,  from  February 
14,  1874,  to  September  21,  1883  ; E.  Toher,  from  September  4,  1877,  to  May 
9,  1883;  P.  H.  Gallen,  from  May  10,  1883,  to  April  8,  1889 ; M.  A.  O’Sullivan, 
from  September  19,  1883,  to  February  25,  1891  ; T.  S.  Hanrahan,  from  April 
16,  1889,  to  December  ii,  1896;  J.  F.  X.  Teehan,  from  February  26,  1891,  to 
January,  1896;  John  Eunney,  from  January  22,  1896,  and  still  on  duty;  P. 

H.  Boland,  from  January  2,  1897,  and  who  is  also  yet  at  work.  Revs.  Wil- 
liam J.  Dong,  John  C.  I vers  and  James  W.  Dolan  served  for  short  periods 
during  the  absence  of  the  regular  curates. 

From  October  i,  1872,  to  January  i,  1898,  there  have  been  3,256  baptisms, 

I, 200  marriages,  and  39  conversions  from  Protestantism.  About  one-fourth 
of  the  converts  were  people  contemplating  marriage  with  Catholics.  As  far 
as  known  they  have  been  “for  the  most  part  persevering,  and  some  even  zeal- 
ous.” The  average  age  of  these  converts,  the  records  say,  has  been  thirty- 
one  years ; only  one  was  under  eighteen,  and  one  was  seventy -six. 

When  Dr.  Power  sent  Father  Scannell  as  pastor  to  St.  Anne’s  he  made 
his  own  home  in  a house  on  Main  street,  near  the  new  church.  That  same 
year  he  bought  the  land  on  which  now  are  built  the  orphan  asylum  and  the 
rectory.  A house  was  on  this  property,  and,  calling  the  sisters  from  St. 


26G 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Anne’s,  lie  made  this  their  home.  He  sheltered  the  orphans  whom  he  gathered 
in  a rented  house  at  the  rear  of  the  convent.  A short  time  after  the  opening 
of  the  orphanage  it  was  destroyed  by  fire,  and  he  began  the  building  of  the 
present  brick  structure.  Just  when  this  building  was  completed  Dr.  Power’s 
own  house  on  Main  street  was  burned.  He  lived  for  a short  time  in  rooms  in 
the  orphan  asylum,  meanwhile  constructing  a new  parochial  residence  at  the 
corner  of  High  and  Chatham  streets.  This  is  a roomy  building  in  brick 
which  makes  a pleasant  and  healthful  home  for  the  priests  of  the  parish. 

The  orphanage,  which  began  with  one  orphan,  to-day  has  eighty,  of 
whom  sixty-five  to  seventy  attend  the  school  under  the  control  of  the  sisters. 
This  school  has  six  grades,  and  all  the  work  of  school  and  orphanage  is  under 
the  care  of  eighteen  Sisters  of  Mercy  with  Sister  Mary  Gabrielle,  superior. 

In  the  beginning  there  were  no  parish  lines,  but  the  people  of  St.  Paul’s 
now  number  upwards  of  four  thousand  souls.  They  are  almost  entirely  Irish 
or  of  Irish  descent.  They  stand  w’^ell  as  a community  both  in  the  social  and 
business  life  of  the  city,  and  have  as  great  an  influence  for  good  in  the  public 
life  as  any  Catholic  congregation  of  like  numbers.  Worcester  yet  has  Protest- 
ant bias,  and  Catholic  people  have  not  the  power  their  numbers  would  appear 
to  warrant.  This  is  as  true  of  St.  Paul’s  as  of  other  parishes.  A large  num- 
ber of  St.  Paul’s  people  are,  however,  in  business;  they  aje  merchants,  manu- 
facturers and  tradesmen;  some  are  teachers,  and  many  are  in  the  liberal 
professions.  Several  of  the  young  men  of  the  parish  have  become  priests, 
and  yonng  girls,  nuns.  Father  Power  always  had  a refining  and  uplifting 
influence  on  his  people,  and  this  for  years  has  been  evident  in  their  manners 
and  ambitions. 

Very  Rev.  John  J.  Power,  D.D.,  Vicar-General  of  the  diocese,  was  born 
in  Charlestown,  Mass.,  August  23,  1828.  His  early  school  days  were  passed 
under  the  tutelage  of  Joshua  Bates,  of  the  famous  Brimmer  school,  where  he 
had  as  fellow-pupils  Starr  King,  afterwards  the  eloquent  preacher  and  lec- 
turer, and  Lewis  B.  Monroe,  who  subsequently  became  the  author  of  the 
Monroe  series  of  readers.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  began  the  private  study  of 
Latin  and  Greek  with  Rev.  George  Goodwin.  He  entered  Holy  Cross  July  7, 
1847,  and  was  graduated  in  1851.  He  studied  theology  for  a year  iu  Mon- 
treal, and  then  for  reasons  of  health  went  to  the  seminary  at  Aix  in  France, 
where,  after  three  years  more  of  study,  he  was  ordained  May  17,  1856.  He 
w'as  in  America  but  three  weeks  when  sent  to  Worcester  as  the  first  pastor  of 
St  Anne’s  church,  with  the  pastoral  care  of  the  missions  of  Millbury,  Grafton 
and  the  surrounding  towns.  When  Bishop  O’Reilly  became  Bishop  of  Spring- 
field  he  made  Rev.  Dr.  Power  his  Vicar-General  for  the  eastern  end  of  the  dio- 
cese ; and  this  was  most  natural,  for  no  other  man  could  have  entered  for  the 
place  into  the  minds  of  the  priests.  ‘ Let  there  be  justice  though  the  heavens 
fall,’  was  the  olden  cry  of  a great  Roman.  Had  the  Vicar-General  of  the 
diocese  of  Springfield,  Very  Rev.  John  J.  Power,  D.D.,  been  that  day  by  the 
Tiber,  and  had  he  heard  that  cry,  he  would  have  applauded,  aud  then  as  now, 
and  all  through  his  life,  would  have  let  the  heavens  fall  before  consenting 
that  an  injustice  be  done.  He  squares  his  life  by  what  he  believes  the  rule  of 


• Hiv 


ST.  PAUL’S  CHURCH, 
Worcester,  Mass. 


I J 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


267 


justice.  Bright  he  is,  and  learned  he  is,  and,  as  a preacher,  has  a charming 
and  simple  style,  so  peculiarly  his  own,  that  all  the  city  people  who  can  get 
past  his  church’s  doors  gather  at  his  feet  in  the  lenten  time.  Year  after 
year,  now  for  forty  years,  their  interest  and  his  reputation  have  been  growing. 

He  is  cautious  and  shrewd  in  business,  has  method  and  system  in  all  he 
does,  thinks  out  his  line  of  action,  then  adheres  determinedly.  His  first 
appointment  was  to  St.  Ann’s,  in  Worcester.  The  parish  property  was  then 
in  the  hands  of  the  mortgagees.  He  rescued  it,  paid  the  debts,  and  left  it  to 
his  successor  free  from  the  shadow  of  a human  hand. 

He  is  the  builder  of  the  finest  church  in  Worcester,  the  founder  of  the 
first  public  hospital  the  city  ever  knew ; he  has  erected  a school  and  orphan- 
age ; is  the  patron,  and  in  the  past  has  been  sometimes  the  main  support  of 
the  Sisters  of  Mercy ; he  has  held  civic  office  on  the  school  board  and  the 
public  library  board,  to  his  own  credit,  the  city’s  and  ours ; he  has  been  the 
instructor  of  more  converts  than  has  any  other  priest  of  Worcester ; in  a 
word.  Dr.  John  J.  Power,  or  “Father  John,”  as  his  own  love  to  call  him,  is 
to-day,  and  has  been  for  two  decades  or  more,  in  the  minds  of  the  Worcester 
people,  both  in  attainments  and  weight  of  personal  character,  the  most  emi- 
nent clergyman  within  the  city’s  walls.  He  is  of  a retired  and  studious 
nature,  dignified  and  distant,  seldom  seen  in  public,  and  will  give  one  meeting 
him  at  times  the  impression  of  severity ; but  he  is  not  severe.  In  a body  of 
priests  he  can  be  most  companionable,  and  will  in  such  social  hour  take  his 
turn  at  a song  or  a story  with  the  youngest  and  most  democratic  of  his  breth- 
ren. He  has  never  been  robust  physically.  ‘ ‘ Take  good  care  of  this  young 
man,  he  will  not  trouble  you  more  than  a few  months  at  best,”  ran  the 
bishop’s  note  to  Father  Boyce,  when  Father  Power  was  first  sent  to  Worcester. 
The  months  have  lengthened  out  into  years.  By  system  and  rule  again.  Dr. 
Power  has  husbanded  his  strength,  till,  now,  he  is  in  the  last  decade  of  his 
fifty  years  of  a scholarly  and  eminently  useful  life  as  a priest. 


CHURCH  OF  NOTRE  DAME  (French  Canadian), 

* Worcester. 

’IX  hundred  French  Canadian  people  had  been  in  Worcester  from 
about  1845.  For  twenty-four  years  thereafter  they  attended  services 
with  the  other  Catholics  of  the  city  in  the  diflferent  churches ; but  on 
the  26th  day  of  September,  1869,  Rev.  J.  B.  Primeau  came  to  Wor- 
cester and  said  Mass  for  them  in  Horticultural  Hall.  The  French  Canadians  at 
that  time  were  counted  as  seventeen  hundred  and  forty-three.  Four  hundred 
and  fifty  people  assisted  at  this  Mass,  which  was  said  on  a simple  table,  upon 
which  stood  but  a crucifix  and  candles.  The  sacred  vessels  necessary  for  the 
ceremony  were  generously  loaned  by  the  Sisters  of  Mercy.  Father  Primeau 
retained  the  care  of  Notre  Dame  parish  for  thirteen  years.  On  the  first  day 
of  June,  1870,  the  first  Mass  was  said  in  the  present  church  of  Notre  Dame, 
which  had  been  bought  from  the  Methodists  by  Father  Primeau.  It  origin- 
ally cost  thirty-five  thousand  dollars,  and  the  people  spent  an  equal  sum  for 
the  rebuilding  and  changing  necessary,  and  for  the  adjoining  residence,  now 


268 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


used  by  the  Sisters  of  St.  Anne.  Tlie  basement  was  prepared  for  parish 
classes.  The  Sisters  of  St.  Anne  came  into  possession  of  their  convent  and 
schools  in  1871.  Father  Vignon  succeeded  Father  Primeau,  and  served  the 
people  until  July,  that  same  year.  Father  Beaudry  then  came  and  served 
until  July,  1883,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  the  present  pastor.  Rev.  Joseph 
Brouillet. 

During  the  thirteen  years  of  Father  Primeau’s  pastorate  he  labored  with 
indefatigable  zeal,  and  success  seemed  to  crown  all  his  efforts.  Towards  the 
end  an  unfortunate  scandal  was  attached  to  his  name,  and  serious  charges 
against  the  priest’s  character  were  publicly  made  in  the  press,  and  proceed- 
ings were  inaugurated  against  him  in  the  law  courts.  He  was  about  to  bless 
a bell,  for  which  the  faculties  had  been  granted  him  by  Bishop  O’Reilly, 
when  word  was  given  by  a kindly  Catholic  that  his  arrest  was  intended  at 
the  public  ceremony ; and,  in  order  to  avoid  a scene,  he  quietly  went  away. 
Father  Primeau  afterwards  labored  in  the  West,  and  about  four  months  ago 
he  died  while  doing  missionary  work  amongst  the  inhabitants  of  Martinique, 
one  of  the  West  Indies.  His  last  days  were  so  filled  with  self-sacrificing 
labor,  that,  if  there  were  truth  in  the  charges  laid  at  his  door,  he  plainly 
tried  to  make  amends  to  God  by  the  years  he  gave  in  the  care  of  poor  souls 
in  this  far-off  land.  It  was  his  wish  to  die  amongst  his  people,  and  his  body 
now  sleeps  underneath  their  palms. 

The  Jesuit  Fathers  who  succeeded  Father  Primeau  did  a great  deal  of 
good  work,  and  by  the  sincerity  of  their  lives  brought  the  people  back  again 
to  a sense  of  duty.  When  they  were  recalled  to  Canada  the  Bishop  found 
some  difficulty  in  getting  a pastor  to  fill  their  places.  The  parish  was  first 
offered  to  Father  Gagnier,  of  Springfield,  but  so  endeared  to  his  parishioners 
was  he,  that,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Bishop,  he  remained  amongst 
them.  Then  the  place  was  tendered  to  Father  Landry,  and  after  Father 
Landry,  to  Father  Crevier,  of  Holyoke  ; but  both  respectfully  asked  to  be 
allowed  to  remain  where  they  were.  Then  the  Bishop  called  Father  Brouillet 
who  had  come  into  the  diocese  scarcely  more  than  a week  before,  and  he  took 
charge  of  the  parish  on  the  i6th  day  of  July,  1883.  The  first  act  of  the  new 
pastor  was  to  get  the  number  of  his  people  ; therefore  he  visited  every  family 
within  the  parish  lines,  and  found  twelve  hundred  families,  or  more  than  six 
thousand  souls.  Father  Brouillet  saw  that  two  things  were  necessary  for  the 
betterment  of  his  parish.  The  first  was  the  building  of  schools,  so  that  the 
children  might  be  properly  taught  to  love  God  and  the  religion  in  which 
they  were  born  ; the  second  was  the  gathering  of  the  Canadian  people  into 
two  or  more  places  in  the  city  where  their  collective  forces  could  be  used  in 
the  formation  of  distinct  congregations,  which  later  on  might  become  par- 
ishes, capable  of  doing  God’s  work.  Father  Brouillet,  therefore,  built  two 
parish  chapels  after  obtaining  permission  of  the  Bishop,  and  said  Mass  in  these 
chapels  in  February,  1886,  and  in  January,  1887.  After  the  building  of 
these  chapels  Father  Brouillet  gave  attention  to  the  schools  at  home.  The 
children  had  outgrown  the  old  accommodations,  and  he  determined  to  buy 
laud  for  a new  building.  After  an  understanding  with  the  Bishop,  the  pastor 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


269 


bought,  six  minutes’  walk  from  the  church,  a piece  of  land  containing  ninety- 
one  hundred  feet.  He  built  hereon  a school,  and  reserved  a part  of  the  same 
plot  for  a convent  for  the  teaching  sisters,  and  for  a presbytery  for  the  priests 
who  are  to  do  the  work  of  the  parish.  At  the  time  this  land  was  bought  a 
great  deal  of  ill-will  was  awakened,  and  criticism  of  the  priest’s  course  by 
parishioners  obtained  from  many  quarters.  This  bad  spirit  delayed  the  ad- 
vance of  the  parish  work,  but  finally  the  priest  was  able  to  finish  as  he 
planned,  and  all  has  ended  for  the  best. 

This  parish  purchased  in  1892  a plot  of  land  of  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
nine  acres  on  Granite  street,  whereon  is  constructed  an  orphanage.  The 
orphanage  was  dedicated,  under  the  name  of  St.  Anne,  on  Memorial  Day, 
1893,  by  Bishop  Beaven.  It  is  situated  on  the  high  ground  to  the  south-east 
of  the  city,  about  two  miles  from  the  city  hall,  on  what  was  known  as  the 
Ellsworth  farm.  It  is  under  the  care  of  the  Gray  Nuns,  from  Montreal. 
They  have  care  of  aged  women  and  orphans.  From  ten  to  twenty  aged 
ladies  have  been  looked  after  since  the  coming  of  the  nuns,  and,  in  1898,  the 
thirteen  hard-working  sisters  had  the  care  of  two  hundred  and  twenty-five 
orphans.  Sister  Mary  Piche  has  charge  of  this  institution.  On  the  13th 
day  of  August,  1889,  some  young  women,  piously  inclined,  started  a refuge 
for  orphans  on  Southgate  street,  but  in  1893  three  Sisters  of  Charity  came 
and  took  charge  of  the  institution.  In  that  same  year,  they  moved  from  the 
home  on  Southgate  street  to  their  commodious  new  home  in  Granite  street. 

The  curates  of  this  parish  were  Revs.  A.  Delphos,  Peltier,  S.  Leblanc,  S. 
J.,  S.  Soli,  T.  Gurtin,  J.  Biron,  J.  Marchand,  Alexandre,  N.  Gourin,  Bourre,  L. 
Geness,  W.  Baltazar,  H.  Hainelin,  D.  Daigneault,  J.  Brousseau  and  A.  Landry. 

Father  Primeau  found  at  his  coming  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
forty-three  people,  and  Father  Brouillet,  in  his  first  census,  six  thousand. 
Two  parishes  have  since  been  cut  away  from  the  mother  parish,  and  still  there 
are  within  the  lines  of  Notre  Dame  eight  hundred  and  sixty  families,  or  near 
to  five  thousand  souls.  The  parish  records  show,  from  the  foundation  of  the 
parish  up  to  January,  1898,  6694  baptisms,  1256  marriages  and  four  conversions 
from  Protestantism.  These  converts,  the  pastor  says,  are  “ persevering.” 

The  parish  controls  a church  in  brick,  a convent  in  brick,  a presbytery 
and  a cemetery.  In  addition  to  this,  it  has  fourteen  hundred  feet  of  land  on 
Park  and  Portland  streets,  and  ninety-one  thousand  feet  of  land  on  Green, 
Bradley,  Washington  and  Lamertine  streets.  There  are  four  class-rooms  in 
the  parish  school,  held  in  the  basement  of  the  church,  and  six  in  the  school 
on  Green  street.  The  average  attendance  is  five  hundred  and  twenty-five. 
Before  the  division  of  the  parish,  there  were  nir.  e grades,  but  now  there  are  ten. 

The  people  of  this  parish  ordinarily  are  of  the  working  class,  though 
amongst  them  are  very  many  merchants,  and  several  men  in  the  learned  pro- 
fessions. There  are  very  many  tradesmen,  especially  workers  in  wood,  for 
which  this  people  appear  to  have  a special  fitness.  They  have  the  reputation 
of  honest  and  assiduous  labor.  In  many  instances  they  own  their  own 
homes.  They  are  seriously  concerned  in  regard  to  citizenship  and  are  taking 
upon  themselves  its  duties  and  obligations. 


270 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


CHURCH  OF  THE  IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION, 

Worcester. 

tIGHT  REV.  MGR.  GRIFFIN  has  always  been  a great  church  builder. 

lu  his  young  days  he  built  churches  and  bought  sites  upon  which 
other  people  have  since  built  them.  In  1871  he  found  that  the 
people  in  the  north  end  of  the  city  would  soon  need  a church,  so 
he  bought  a piece  of  land  on  Prescott  street,  as  site  for  a future  one.  St. 
Paul’s,  in  the  heart  of  the  city,  stands  on  the  place  of  an  old  pear  orchard,  and 
Father  Griffin  bought  land  here  which  was  then  an  apple  orchard.  A small 
cottage  stood  among  the  trees.  In  November,  two  years  later.  Rev.  Robert 
Walsh,  who  had  been  a curate  with  Father  Griffin  at  St.  John’s,  and  who  was 
then  the  pastor  at  Otter  River,  was  recalled  to  the  city  by  the  bishop,  and 
made  pastor  of  the  new  parish.  The  first  Mass  said  by  him  within  his  lines 
was  on  November  7,  1873,  the  little  cottage  house  then  standing  on 
the  site  of  the  present  church,  and  in  which  he  made  his  home.  He  con- 
tinued to  say  Mass  in  this  cottage  home  until  April,  the  following  year,  when 
he  sold  the  house  for  five  hundred  dollars  on  condition  that  it  be  moved  away 
to  a lot  on  the  same  street.  This  was  done,  but  it  took  two  weeks  to  do  it. 
In  the  meanwhile  he  lived  in  the  house,  saying  Mass  one  Sunday  while  it 
was  up  on  stays  in  the  middle  of  the  street.  He  lived  in  this  house  for  two 
years  after.  He  rented  it  from  its  new  owners.  The  lot  being  cleared  of  the 
cottage,  fifty  men  of  the  parish  leveled  the  orchard,  and  dug  out  all  the  tree 
stumps.  At  this  time  the  city  was  in  great  need  of  gravel,  and  Father  Walsh 
made  a bargain,  by  which  he  gave  the  gravel  to  the  city  in  return  for  the 
digging  of  the  cellar  of  his  new  church.  When  the  excavation  was  com- 
pleted, he  began  at  once  the  building  of  the  new  structure.  The  corner 
stone  was  laid  in  June,  1874,  by  Bishop  O’Reilly.  Father  Joseph  O’Hagan, 
S.  J.,  then  president  of  Holy  Cross  College,  preached  the  dedication  sermon. 
The  side  walls  of  the  building  were  up,  the  building  roofed,  and  the  base- 
ment finished  before  the  next  winter.  Meanwhile  the  parishioners  gathered 
for  I\Iass  in  the  priest’s  home.  The  church  was  dedicated  December  8th,  the 
feast  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  in  1878.  The  building  is  a frame 
structure,  in  Gothic  lines,  one  hundred  and  forty  feet  long  by  sixty-four  wide. 
It  rests  on  a brick  foundation.  The  sermon  on  the  occasion  of  the  dedica- 
tion w'as  preached  by  Rev.  Thomas  Griffin  at  the  Mass,  and  by  Rev.  Thomas 
Beaven  at  the  Vesper  service. 

While  the  church  was  going  up,  the  pastor  bought,  in  1 876,  the  property 
on  Prescott  and  Lexington  streets,  immediately  adjoining  the  church  lot,  and 
made  his  home  in  the  house  which  stood  thereupon.  A little  later  he  pur- 
chased the  house  and  land  at  the  north  side  of  the  church,  and  another  house 
on  Lexington  street,  just  close  to  the  corner  lot.  In  1891  he  razed  the  house 
on  the  corner  lot,  and  on  its  site  built  the  present  beautiful  parochial  resi- 
dence. He  was  in  the  new  home  in  March,  1892. 

For  more  than  a dozen  years  now  the  parish  of  the  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion has  been  free  from  debt.  In  addition  to  the  labor  of  the  Immaculate 


Rev.  J.  ED.  PERREAULT. 


Rev.  J.  JAKSZTYS. 


Rev.  ROBERT  WALSH. 


Rev.  j.  BROUILLET. 


Rev.  JULES  GRATON. 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


271 


Conception  parish,  Father  Walsh  also  had  charge  of  the  missions  of  Holden 
and  Rutland.  Kutland  prior  to  this  was  a mission  attached  to  Spencer.  In 
1882  Father  Walsh  bought  in  Rutland  an  old  Protestant  meeting-house,  and 
fitted  it  up  for  services.  Two  years  later  Rutland  and  Holden  were  made  a 
parish,  and  Rev.  James  McCloskey,  who  had  been  Father  Walsh’s  assistant, 
was  made  the  first  resident  pastor. 

The  curates  of  this  parish  have  been  : Rev.  Richard  Walsh,  who  came 
August  22,  1874;  Rev.  James  McCloskey,  January  6,  1877;  Rev.  Thomas  F. 
Joyce,  January  5,  1879;  Rev.  Charles  J.  Boylan,  October  i,  1881;  Rev.  John 
S.  Nelligan,  September  10,  1881;  Rev.  Denis  Mullins,  January,  1888;  Rev. 
James  McKechnie,  March  25,  1893,  and  still  in  the  labor. 

Father  Walsh  found  within  his  lines  four  hundred  and  fifty  people  of 
Irish  birth  or  descent,  when  he  returned  to  Worcester.  He  has  more  than 
two  thousand  of  the  same  blood  now  in  his  parish.  These  people  Father 
Walsh  describes  as  “plain,  good  people.” 

Since  the  foundation  of  the  parish,  up  to  January,  1898,  there  have  been 
2444  baptisms,  527  marriages  and  25  conversions  from  Protestantism. 

The  parish  now  owns  a church,  parochial  residence  and  two  tenement 
houses.  The  people  of  the  parish  are  hard  working,  honest  people,  who 
labor  in  the  shops  and  factories,  and  in  the  ordinary  trades.  There  are  some 
contractors  amongst  them,  however,  some  store-keepers,  and  several  men  in 
the  learned  professions. 

The  pastor.  Rev.  Robert  Walsh,  was  born  in  Kilkenny,  Ireland,  in  April, 
1841.  He  studied  in  the  college  at  Waterford,  and  made  his  philosophical 
and  theological  studies  at  St.  John’s  College,  the  same  city.  He  had  as  pro- 
fessors during  his  course  Rev.  Doctor  Cleary,  afterwards  Archbishop  of 
Kingston,  and  Rev.  Doctor  Power,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Waterford.  He  was 
made  a priest  on  Sexagesima  Sunday,  1866.  He  was  ordained  for  the  diocese 
of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  by  Rt.  Rev.  Dominick  O’Brien,  then  Bishop  of 
Waterford.  He  was  received  into  the  diocese  of  Springfield  by  Bishop 
O’Reilly,  just  six  weeks  after  the  formation  of  the  new  diocese,  and  was  made 
assistant  at  Northampton.  There  he  remained  three  months.  He  came  as 
curate  under  Father  Griffin,  at  St.  John’s,  on  January  22,  1871.  Doctor  Power, 
who  was  then  administrator  of  the  diocese,  made  him  the  pastor  of  Otter 
River,  November  ii,  1872.  He  did  excellent  work  there,  and  was  recalled 
by  Bishop  O’Reilly  to  the  city  in  1873.  Rev.  Robert  Walsh  is  a large,  strong 
man,  very  soft  spoken,  pleasant  faced  and  kindly.  How  wisely  he  has  worked 
his  parish  shows. 

CHURCH  OF  THE  SACRED  HEART, 

Worcester. 

C5  I HE  parish  of  the  Sacred  Heart  is  an  offshoot  from  St.  John’s.  It  was 
^ I made  a parish  on  January  24,  1880,  and  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Conaty,  who 
from  his  ordination  up  to  that  date  was  curate  at  St.  John’s  church, 
was  made  the  first  regular  pastor.  The  parish  had  been  forming  since  March 
30,  1879;  but  twelve  years  prior  to  this,  in  1867,  Rev.  P.  T.  O’Reilly,  then 


272 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


pastor  of  St.  John’s,  seeing  that  the  trend  of  population  and  business  was 
towards  Quinsigamond,  bought  a piece  of  land  on  Cambridge  street  for  a 
future  church.  His  successor  in  the  pastorate,  Father  Griffin,  called  the 
people  of  that  section  of  the  city  together  in  public  meeting,  March  30,  1879, 
and  showed  them  plans  of  a Gothic  church  prepared  by  P.  W.  Ford,  of  Bos- 
ton, which  was  to  be  built  in  brick  with  stone  trimmings.  The  people  were 
enthusiastic  and  promised  every  reasonable  help.  Father  Griffin  took  the 
people  at  their  word,  and  ground  was  broken  for  the  church  July  2,  1879. 
The  work  was  pushed  so  rapidly  that  the  corner-stone  was  laid  on  Septem- 
ber 21st  following.  It  was  attended  then  as  a mission  from  St.  John’s  until 
the  appointment  of  Father  Conaty  as  resident  pastor  the  following  January. 
The  first  Mass  was  said  between  the  growing  walls  by  Father  Griffin,  Septem- 
ber 7,  1879. 

There  were  fourteen  hundred  souls  within  the  parish  lines  when  it  was 
first  formed.  They  were  entirely  of  Irish  blood  or  lineage.  To-day  there  are 
forty-five  hundred  showing  obedience  to  Rev.  Bernard  Conaty,  the  present 
pastor. 

F'ather  Thomas  Conaty,  the  first  pastor,  in  the  beginning  lived  in  a rented 
house  at  the  corner  of  Sheridan  and  Cambridge  streets,  and  from  the  first 
applied  all  his  energies  to  the  completion  of  the  basement  of  the  church.  He 
had  the  great  pleasure  of  saying  the  first  Mass  therein  on  Easter  Sunday,  1881. 
In  March  that  same  year  Stoneville  was  put  under  his  charge  as  a mis- 
sion. It  so  remained  attached  to  the  Sacred  Heart  parish  until  1885,  when 
it  was  assumed  by  the  pastor  of  Oxford.  In  April,  1881,  Father  Conaty  pur- 
chased the  Gilchrist  estate,  which  then  had  on  it  the  old  house  in  which  he 
lived.  He  sold  this  house,  and  after  its  removal  at  once  began  the  building 
of  the  present  presbytery.  This  was  finished  in  January,  1882,  and  in  Feb- 
ruary', one  month  later,  he  was  living  in  his  pleasant  new  home.  The  church 
was  finished  in  September,  1874,  and  on  the  21st  day  of  that  month  Bishop 
O’Reilly  dedicated  it  to  God  under  the  title  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesiis. 
Rev.  Charles  E.  Burke,  whose  aged  parents  lived  within  the  parish  lines, 
preached  the  dedicatory  sermon,  and  Rev.  P.  J.  Garrigan,  then  pastor  of  Fitch- 
burg, did  a like  duty  at  the  Vesper  service.  The  next  year  Father  Conaty 
built  a parish  hall.  This  faces  on  Sheridan  street,  just  back  of  the  rectory. 
It  was  dedicated  on  June  25th  of  that  year.  It  is  used  as  a gymnasium,  lec- 
ture or  concert  hall,  and  for  any  other  parish  purpose  for  which  such  building 
may  be  required.  A beautiful  organ  was  put  into  the  new  church  by  Doctor 
Conaty  in  1890,  and  was  opened  for  the  first  time  Sunday,  May  5th,  that  same 
year.  On  May  9,  1892,  at  a cost  of  five  thousand  dollars,  the  pastor  pur- 
chased the  property  on  Sheridan  street,  containing  eleven  thousand  feet  of 
land,  and  on  which  stood  a four  tenement  frame  building,  which  has  since 
been  remodeled  into  a club  house  for  the  members,  of  the  parish  lyceum.  On 
January  10,  1897,  Rev.  Father  Conaty  was  called  to  the  headship  of  the  Cath- 
olic University  at  Washington,  and  on  the  24th  following  was  succeeded  by 
his  brother,  Rev.  Bernard  S.  Conaty,  who  is  still  on  duty. 

Father  Thomas  Conaty,  or  Monsignor  Conaty  as  he  has  since  been  made 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


27?? 


by  the  Holy  Father,  was  born  in  County  Cavan,  Ireland,  August  i,  1847. 
With  his  parents  he  came  to  Taunton,  Mass  , in  185 1.  He  attended  the  public 
schools  of  that  place  up  to  1863,  when  he  began  the  study  of  classics  at  Mon- 
treal College.  After  four  years  there  he  entered  Holy  Cross  College,  whence 
he  was  graduated  in  1 869.  .He  made  his  theological  course  at  the  Grand  Semi- 
•nary  of  Montreal,  and  was  there  ordained  December  21,  1872.  He  was  ap- 
pointed in  January,  1873,  curate  at  St.  John’s  church,  and  there  remained 
during  the  whole  time  of  his  curacy.  All  his  life  long  Father  Conaty  has 
been  of  marked  individuality.  Even  while  a curate  he  was  known  from  end 
to  end  of  the  diocese  and  in  many  parts  of  our  country  as  a man  of  promise. 
It  may  be  said  of  him  that  since  becoming  pastor  of  the  Sacred  Heart  church 
he  is,  perhaps,  the  most  widely  known  priest  of  our  diocese.  Beyond  any 
other  he  enjoys  reputation  as  a public  speaker.  He  is  now  twenty-seven  years 
a priest,  and  has  been  from  the  first  a public  man.  By  nature  he  is  an  agitator 
and  loves  the  work  of  multitudes.  We  can  easily  imagine  him  a Peter  waking 
up  Europe  to  the  crusades,  but  would  find  it  hard  to  see  in  him  the  same 
Peter  in  a hermit’s  cell.  Dr.  Conaty  is  a masterful  man,  and  brings  with  him 
wherever  he  goes  the  hum  of  assemblies.  God  made  him  an  active  man,, 
and  in  every  agitation  for  the  people’s  health  he  is  the  angel  who,  stronger 
than  the  rest,  can  best  stir  the  waters.  Every  great  movement  in  church  and 
state  toward  public  reform,  popular  education,  or  charity  now  for  nearly  three 
decades  has  found  his  name  in  places  of  honor,  and  has  heard  his  strong  voice 
lifted  up  for  the  true,  the  beautiful  and  the  good.  In  1893  his  fellow  priests 
made  him  one  of  three  to  represent  them  on  the  Bishop’s  council.  So  high 
and  general  a reputation  had  he  for  good  work  that  he,  as  was  the  present 
Bishop  of  Springfield,  was  singled  out  from  the  priests  of  New  England,  and 
given  the  title  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  by  Georgetown  College  at  the  time  of 
its  centennial  jubilee.  In  July,  1892,  he  was  made  the  president  of  the 
Catholic  summer  school.  Here  with  so  great  a success  did  he  control  the 
vast  assembly  that  he  drew  the  eyes  of  the  country  upon  himself.  When 
Bishop  Keane  was  called  to  Rome,  Doctor  Conaty  was  named  the  head  of  the 
university  after  him.  The  Holy  Father  made  him  a Monsignor  in  October,. 
1897,  and  he  is  still  at  the  head  of  that  great  institution,  bringing  credit  to 
it,  to  our  diocese  and  to  himself. 

The  curates  of  this  parish  have  been  Revs.  John  J.  O’Keefe,  E.  D.  Casey, 
James  F.  Galvin,  M.  W.  Mulhane,  J.  A.  Hurley,  P.  F.  Hafey,  J.  J.  Tirrell, 
W.  E.  Foley  and  John  F.  Griffin. 

Since  the  founding  of  the  parish  to  January,  1898,  there  have  been  2,r2t 
baptisms,  337  marriages,  and  27  conversions  from  Protestantism.  These  con- 
verts are  spoken  of  by  the  pastor  as  generally  “stable.” 

The  parish  has  now  a church,  parochial  residence,  a hall,  the  Eyceum 
building  and  a small  stable. 

The  people  of  the  parish  are  of  the  working  class,  ordinarily.  There  are 
amongst  them,  however,  men  in  the  liberal  professions,  lawyers,  doctors  and 
teachers-  The  parish  has  sent  several  young  men  into  the  priesthood,  and 
young  women  into  the  religious  communities.  Many  of  the  people  are  fairly 
18 


274 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


well-to-do  and  own  their  own  homes.  They  are  ambitious,  and,  generally 
sj^eaking,  well  instructed.  The  young  people  under  the  direction  of  Doctor 
Conaty  were  especially  drawn  to  the  study  of  religious  subjects.  For  their 
benefit  he  published  a parish  magazine  which  had  a general  sale  throughout 
the  country.  His  Sunday-school  since  1898  has  been  under  the  direction  of 
Francis  P.  McKeon,  a well-known  educator  of  Worcester.  By  him  it  has 
been  carefully  organized  and  graded  ; and,  like  the  great  secular  schools,  has 
yearly  its  regular  graduation. 

Rev.  Bernard  J.  Conaty,  the  present  pastor,  was  born  in  Taunton,  Mass., 
October  15,  1855,  and  studied  in  her  schools.  For  three  years  he  was  at  Mon- 
treal College  for  his  classics,  then  for  a month  at  Holy  Cross,  but  he  com- 
pleted the  work  in  the  Propaganda  at  Rome.  For  reasons  of  health  in  May, 
1878,  he  was  obliged  to  go  from  Rome  to  Aix-en-Provence,  France,  and  there 
was  ordained  by  Archbishop  Forcade,  April  11,  1882.  He  served  from  No- 
vember 4th  that  year  till  March  3d  of  the  next  year  as  curate  with  Father 
Murphy,  at  Gardner,  and  with  Father  Beaven,  at  Spencer,  thenceforward 
until  his  appointment  to  the  rectorship  of  the  cathedral  at  Springfield  in  Octo- 
ber, 1888.  He  is  a gentle  priest,  devout,  of  scholarly  tastes,  whom  everybody 
lov'es.  He  is  master  of  several  languages.  But  better  than  knowledge  he 
has  the  kindliest  of  hearts. 

ST.  PETER’S  CHURCH, 

W'ORCESTER. 

Mission. — St.  Joseph’s  Church,  Stoneville. 

PETER’S  parish  in  the  southeast  part  of  the  city  was  organized 
May  15,  1884,  by  Rev.  D.  H.  O’Neil,  who  was  then  appointed  by 
Bishop  O’Reilly  for  this  purpose.  The  first  Mass  within  the  parish 
lines  was  .said  by  the  pastor  May  25,  1884,  in  the  house  where  he  was  then 
living  at  162  Canterbury  street.  About  twenty-five  people  assisted  at  this 
]\Iass.  He  organized  a Sunday-school  which  he  taught  in  the  school-house 
on  Southgate  street.  The  first  business  meeting  of  the  parish  was  held  in 
the  old  Catholic  Institute  on  Temple  street  on  the  first  day  of  June  that  same 
year.  Eleven  hundred  dollars  were  subscribed  at  this  meeting  for  the  build- 
ing of  the  church.  Father  O’Neil  some  weeks  before  asked  the  assistance  of 
P.  W.  Ford  of  Boston,  who  prepared  him  plans  for  a church.  These  plans 
were  approved  by  the  bishop  and  adopted  by  the  pastor  June  3d  that  same 
year.  Three  days  later  ground  was  broken  and  the  work  begun.  On  the 
seventh  day  of  September  Bishop  O’Reilly  laid  the  corner  stone,  assisted  by 
Rev.  Dr.  Power,  V.  G.,  and  the  clergy  of  the  city  and  surrounding  towns. 
Rev.  R.  S.  J.  Burke  preached  the  sermon.  iSIeanwhile  Mass  was  said  in  a 
school-house  on  Southgate  street,  and  from  this  time  forw'ard  in  a school- 
house  on  Canterbury  street.  The  basement  of  the  church  was  ready  for  ser- 
vices, and  the  first  Mass  said  therein  on  Christmas  Day  that  same  year  by 
Father  O’Neil,  and  High  Mass  was  sung  in  the  finished  basement  on  the 
Easter  Sunday  following.  On  June  18,  1893,  the  beautiful  Romanesque 


DIOCESE  Of  SPRINGEIELD. 


276 


churcli  was  dedicated  by  Bishop  Beaven,  assisted  by  a great  body  of  priests 
from  all  ends  of  the  diocese.  The  Pontifical  Mass  of  Dedication  was  sung  by 
Bishop  Michaud  of  Burlington,  while  Bishop  Bradley  of  Manchester,  N.  H., 
preached  the  dedication  sermon.  The  Vesper  service  was  sung  by  Bishop 
Beaven,  and  the  sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  J.J.  McCoy,  then  of  Westboro. 
St.  Peter’s  church  is  built  in  brick  with  granite  trimmings.  It  is  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  feet  long  by  sixty-two  feet  wide  in  the  nave,  and  it  seats 
eight  hundred  people.  At  the  corner  is  a massive  tower,  which  makes  the 
total  breadth  of  the  facade  eighty-two  feet.  It  stands  just  opposite  Clark 
University,  and  with  the  presbytery  and  intervening  lawn,  takes  up  the  whole 
length  of  a city  square. 

While  the  church  was  in  course  of  construction  Father  O’Neil  was  super- 
intending the  building  of  a parochial  residence  at  the  corner  of  the  church 
lot.  He  began  the  building  in  1884 ; it  was  completed  during  the  next  year. 

The  curates  of  the  parish  have  been  Revs.  William  F.  Grace,  from  May 
21,  1890,  to  March  i,  1894;  James  J.  Howard  from  October  6,  1893,  and 
Philip  J.  Lee  from  March  i,  1894,  both  of  whom  are  .still  on  duty. 

St.  Peter’s  church  when  formed  had  within  its  lines  one  thousand  one 
hundred  people,  who  were  Irish  and  Americans.  To-day  it  has  more  than 
twenty-four  hundred  people  of  the  same  races. 

There  have  been  552  baptisms  in  the  first  decade  of  parish  life,  and  170 
marriages. 

In  1897  Father  O’Neil  introduced  a community  of  five  Sisters  of  St. 
Joseph  into  the  parish,  with  Sister  M.  Ursula  as  superior.  They  have  the 
work  of  the  Sunday-school,  the  care  of  the  altars,  and  the  visiting  of  sick 
pari.shioners  as  their  duty.  He  bought  for  them  a convent  home  on  Wyman 
street. 

The  people  of  this  parish  are  described  by  their  pastor  as  “thrifty, 
respected,  interested.” 

In  addition  to  the  home  parish  Father  O’Neil  has  since  1891  the  care  of 
the  mission  of  Stoneville  in  the  town  of  Auburn.  St.  Joseph’s  church  on 
this  mission  was  built  by  Rev.  Thomas  Griffin,  then  curate  at  St.  John’s.  It  is 
a frame  building,  and  was  dedicated  on  Thanksgiving,  November  25,  1869, 
by  Rev.  P.  T.  O’Reilly,  then  pastor  of  St.  John’s,  who  also  addressed  the 
people.  The  dedication  sermon,  however,  was  preached  by  Rev.  Francis  J. 
Quinn,  then  a curate  in  St.  Mary’s,  Taunton,  and  a class-mate  of  Father 
Griffin.  Prior  to  the  dedication.  Mass  was  celebrated  in  a little  school-house 
on  the  hill,  a short  di.stance  above  the  church  site.  In  the  Christmas  tide  of 
1867,  Father  Griffin  said  Mass  for  the  first  time  in  the  village.  He  believes, 
however,  that  before  his  advent  the  villagers  had  enjoyed  the  hearing  of  Mass. 
In  the  years  following  the  dedication,  St.  John’s  had  the  care  of  the  mission 
until  1881  ; then  St.  Anne’s  assumed  it,  but  relinquished  it  in  1885  to  the 
Sacred  Heart ; next  it  belonged  to  Oxford,  but  now  it  is  under  the  fostering 
care  of  St.  Peter’s. 

Rev.  D.  H.  O’Neil,  the  pastor,  was  born  in  St.  Albans,  Vermont.  He 
was  graduated  from  Holy  Cross  College  in  1869.  He  studied  theology  at 


276 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


Troy  Seminary,  New  York,  and  was  there  ordained  May  25,  1872.  For  two 
years  he  was  assistant  at  St.  John’s,  then  at  St.  Paul’s  under  Dr.  Power  until 
made  pastor  of  the  church  in  Greenfield.  From  Greenfield  he  came  to  St. 
Peter’s.  Father  O’Neil  is  acknowledged  one  of  the  keenest  and  most  cotn- 
petent  of  our  business  men.  This  quality  in  him  was  recognized  by  the 
bishop  two  years  ago  when  the  “ Building  Committee”  was  formed  consisting 
of  Fathers  Harkins,  O’Neil  and  Boyle.  He  has  been  eminently  successful  all 
through  his  life,  and,  as  pastor,  has  built  up  within  the  last  decade  and  a half 
of  years  a parish  which  may  be  counted  amongst  the  very  best  of  the  diocese 
in  appointments,  completion  of  buildings,  and  in  repiitation  for  wise  man- 
agement of  its  affairs. 


ST.  STEPHEN’S  CHURCH, 

Worcester. 

IN  the  late  summer  of  1886  Rev.  Thomas  Griffin,  pastor  of  St.John’s, 
began  seeking  the  site  of  a future  church  in  the  southeast  part  of  the 
city.  Through  the  help  of  Eieutenant  James  Early,  who  was  a go- 
between  for  Father  Griffin  and  the  owners,  John  P.  Streeter,  George 
Sessions,  Benjamin  Thayer,  and  George  A.  Rice,  a plot  of  land  of  two  and 
one-half  acres  was  purchased  at  the  corner  of  Grafton  and  Hamilton  streets, 
near  Elm  Square,  at  a cost  of  fifteen  thousand  five  hundred  and  seventeen 
dollars  and  thirty  cents.  The  new  parish  was  set  apart  from  St.  John’s  in 
January,  1887,  and  on  the  27th  day  of  that  month  Rev.  R.  S.  J.  Burke,  of 
Westboro,  was  appointed  its  first  resident  pastor.  He  took  possession  of  the 
parish  at  once,  and  ten  days  after  the  appointment  said  the  first  Mass  in  the 
unfinished  attic  of  a school-house  at  the  corner  of  Grafton  and  Wall  streets. 
This  attic  was  the  place  for  all  public  services,  whereto  the  people  came  until 
the  completion  of  the  basement  of  the  new  church,  June  19th,  that  same 
year.  Father  Burke  pushed  the  work  on  the  new  chapel  rapidly.  He  had  a 
great  deal  of  natural  energy,  and  he  applied  it  here.  The  priest  and  people 
suflfered  considerably  from  the  cold  of  the  school  attic,  but  nevertheless  the 
work  of  parish  formation  went  on.  He  organized  a choir,  and  on  Easter 
Sunday,  April  loth.  High  Mass  was  sung  by  him  in  the  school  attic.  Prepa- 
rations were  made  meanwhile  for  the  holding  of  a fair,  which  proved  a great 
success,  netting  the  parish  more  than  five  thousand  dollars.  Before  Father 
Burke’s  coming  Father  Thomas  Griffin  had  procured  from  P.  W.  Ford,  of 
Boston,  the  plans  for  a frame  chapel.  Father  Burke  awarded  the  contract 
for  the  building  of  the  same  to  Urgel  Jacques,  March,  1887.  The  church, 
which  is  a frame  building  resting  on  a brick  foundation,  is  built  in  Roman- 
esque lines.  It  was  completed  and  dedicated  September  4th,  1887,  by  the 
Vicar  General  of  the  diocese.  Very  Rev.  John  J.  Power ; the  sermon  of  dedica- 
tion was  preached  by  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  D.  Beaven,  then  pastor  of  Spencer. 
Two  years  later  Father  Burke  built  the  rectory,  which  is  a commodious  and 
beautiful  structure.  It  is  a frame  building  and  stands  where  the  church, 
when  the  parish  is  prepared  to  build,  will  be  placed.  The  present  chapel  was 
intended  to  serve  during  the  formative  period  of  the  parish  only.  When  the 


DIOCESE  OE  SPRINGEIELD. 


277 


growth,  which  is  with  reason  expected,  will  warrant  the  undertaking,  the 
parish  will  build  a substantial  church,  and  the  present  chapel  will  then  be 
turned  to  school  purposes. 

In  the  early  part  of  1895  Father  Burke  was  transferred  by  the  Bishop  to 
the  parish  of  South  Deerfield,  and  Rev.  Daniel  McGill icuddy,  then  stationed 
at  Warren,  came  in  his  stead.  When  the  parish  was  formed.  Father  Burke; 
who  is  a good  scholar  and  a man  of  unusual  eloquence,  gave  himself  to  the  study 
of  Italian  to  meet  the  need  of  the  people  of  that  tongue  who  were  in  his  parish; 
and  was  succeeding  with  them  very  well,  until  the  appointment  of  an  Italian 
priest  to  Worcester  made  his  further  efforts  in  this  line  unnecessary.  ’ 

When  the  parish  was  formed  there  were  within  its  lines  twelve  hundred 
souls  of  Irish  birth  or  origin,  with  a sprinkling  of  Italians.  The  parish  now 
has  upwards  of  sixteen  hundred  souls,  and  the  people  still  are  of  Irish  birth 
or  blood,  with  here  and  there  small  bodies  of  Italians. 

In  the  first  decade  of  the  parish  life  there  were  594  baptisms,  89  marriagesi 
and  12  conversions  from  Protestantism.  These  converts,  as  a rule,  were 
people  who  were  preparing  for  Catholic  marriages. 

The  parish  owns  a rectory,  a tenement  house,  a small  barn,  which  Father 
McGillicuddy  has  remodeled  into  a club  house  for  the  Temperance  Society, 
and  two  and  one-half  acres  of  land. 

The  great  majority  of  the  people  are  of  the  laboring  class;  they  are  ambi- 
tious, and  in  most  instances  have  their  children  well  educated.  There  are  a few 
families  of  wealth,  and  very  many  own  their  own  homes.  There  are  young  men 
in  the  liberal  professions,  and  several  of  the  young  women  are  teachers  in  the 
public  schools.  They  are  a self-sacrificing  people,  loyal  to  church  and  pastor.. 

The  pastor.  Rev.  Daniel  McGillicuddy,  was  born  in  Worcester  in  the 
neighborhood  of  old  St.  John’s  church.  May  13th,  i860.  He  passed  through 
the  city  schools  and  received  his  diploma  at  the  Worcester  High  School  in 
1878.  Three  years  later  he  received  the  degree  of  A.B.  from  Holy  Cross 
College.  He  studied  theology'  at  the  Grand  Seminary  of  Montreal,  and  was 
ordained  there  by  Archbishop  Fabre,  December  20,  1884.  He  was  at  once 
sent  as  curate  to  Father  Cuddihy  at  Milford,  and  here  he  remained  during, 
the  first  seven  years  of  his  priesthood.  He  afterwards  was  with  Father  Shiels,. 
at  Deominster,  for  a year,  and  then  for  a year  and  a half  at  Westfield,  when- 
he  became  pastor  in  December,  1893,  of  the  church  of  St.  Athanasius,  at 
Warren.  Father  McGillicuddy  is  a level-headed  man,  capable  in  many  ways; 
a good  business  man,  and  properly  ambitious.  Since  coming  to  Worcester 
he  has  exercised  considerable  influence  with  the  temperance  organizations, 
and  for  three  years  has  been  president  of  the  Diocesan  Temperance  Union. 
He  is  a man  of  refined  tastes,  and  is  doing  a great  deal  for  the  uplifting  of  his^ 
people. 

CHURCH  OF  ST.  JOSEPH  (French),  i 

Worcester.  i 

(5  I HE  formation  of  parishes  in  Worcester  in  the  last  decade  of  years' 
^ I argues  rapid  growth  amongst  the  Catholics.  Early  in  March,  1891, ■ 
Bishop  O’Reilly  set  apart  from  Notre  Dame  the  parish  of  St.  Joseph," 


278 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


in  the  easterly  eiid  of  Worcester.  That  part  of  the  city  was  called,  when  the 
Irish  predominated,  “Dungarven,”  and  when  the  French,  “French  Hill.” 
March  19th,  that  same  year.  Rev.  Jules  Graton  was  appointed  the  first  resident 
pastor.  This  parish  was  originally  centered  about  the  chapel  built  by  Father 
Brouillet  as  early  as  1887.  It  was  then  the  first  Mass  was  said  within  the  new 
parish  lines.  Father  Graton  found  a church  in  course  of  construction  when  he 
came.  He  completed  this,  and,  a year  after  his  coming,  built  a rector}'.  The 
new  church  was  dedicated  to  God  under  the  patronage  of  St.  Joseph,  June  20, 
1892.  This  church  of  St.  Joseph  is  a brick  building,  and  stands  on  a very 
elevated  spot,  above  the  surrounding  streets.  It  is  neat  and  well  kept.  The 
interior  is  tastefully  frescoed,  and  the  whole  place  shows  a spirit  of  reverent 
care.  October  7th,  1886,  Father  Graton  opened  a parochial  school,  under  the 
charge  of  two  Sisters  of  St.  Anne  from  Lachine,  in  the  basement  of  the  church. 
Two  other  sisters  came  in  1893,  and  for  the  first  time  the  Community  then 
took  up  residence  in  the  parish  under  Sister  Rose  de  Viterbe  as  Superior. 
This  school  now  is  under  the  care  of  fourteen  sisters,  whose  superior  is  Sister 
St.  Columbe.  It  opened  with  three  hundred  and  twenty-five  scholars  ; it  has 
retained  that  average  since. 

The  first  seven  years  of  the  parish  life  show  on  the  books  805  baptisms 
and  62  marriages.  The  people,  who  are  entirely  French  Canadians,  and  their 
children,  counted  1923,  when  the  parish  was  made;  now  2075  make  up  the 
parish. 

Father  L.  A.  Langlois  was  a curate  in  this  parish  two  months,  and  after 
him  Father  St.  Onge  for  one  year.  The  people  are  spoken  of  by  their  pastor 
as  of  good  standing  in  the  community.  They  have  considerable  political 
influence,  and,  in  the  business  life  of  the  city,  are  making  themselves  felt. 

Rev.  Jules  Graton,  the  pastor,  was  born  in  Canada,  and  there  educated  at 
St.  Therese  College.  He  was  ordained  to  the  priesthood  June  25,  1882. 
Three  years  later  he  was  an  assistant  at  South  bridge.  From  1886  to  1890  he 
was  rector  at  Fiskdale  ; for  a period,  he  was  pastor  at  the  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion church  of  Fitchburg,  where  he  did  excellent  work,  and  whence  he  was 
called  to  organize  St.  Joseph’s  parish.  Father  Graton  is  looked  upon  as  a 
zealons  pastor,  who  attends  constantly  to  the  welfare  of  his  people,  both 
spiritual  and  temporal. 

CHURCH  OF  THE  HOLY  NAME  (French), 

Worcester. 

SUST  two  years  after  the  formation  of  St.  Joseph’s  parish  another  parish 
of  French  Canadians  was  set  apart  from  Notre  Dame  by  Right  Rev. 
Bishop  Beaven,  this  time  at  the  south  end  of  the  city.  The  new 
parish,  like  St.  Joseph’s,  for  several  years  had  a kind  of  parish  forma- 
tion, which  dates  from  the  chapel  erected  by  the  pastor  of  Notre  Dame.  This 
little  chapel  was  at  the  corner  of  Southgate  and  Grand  streets.  This  Bishop 
sent  Rev.  J.  Ed.  Perreault,  then  pastor  at  Turner’s  Falls,  first  resident  pastor 
to  the  parish.  He  came  the  7th  day  of  February,  1893.  He  said  the  first 
Mass  of  his  pastorate  the  Sunday  following  in  the  little  chapel,  and  thence- 


DIOCESE  Of  SPRINGFIELD, 


279 


forward  in  the  same  place  until  the  population  grew  too  numerous  and  the 
little  chapel  no  longer  could  accommodate  them.  In  1893  Father  Perreault 
bought  for  ten  thousand  eight  hundred  dollars  a piece  of  land  measuring  sixty 
thousand  square  feet.  He  commenced  immediately  the  building  of  a church 
and  presbytery-.  At  this  writing  the  basement  alone  is  completed,  and  thus 
far  has  cost  the  parish  twenty  thou.sand  dollars.  This  land  was  close  to  the 
Clark  University.  The  church  when  finished  will  be  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful in  Worcester. 

.\t  the  founding  of  the  parish  there  were  within  the  lines  five  hundred 
families,  who  were  altogether  French-Canadians  or  their  children  ; to-day 
there  are  upwards  of  six  hundred  families,  or  three  thousand  souls. 

From  February,  1893,  to  October,  1899,  there  were  977  baptisms,  153  mar- 
riages, and  three  conversions  from  Protestantism.  When  Father  Perreault 
came  to  the  new  parish  he  found  many  Canadian  families  who  had  ceased 
attending  Mass,  and  three  who  had  apostatized,  but  since  his  coming  all  have 
returned  to  the  church. 

The  parish  now  possesses  a church  and  a presbytery.  The  latter  was 
built  in  1895  at  a cost  of  eight  thousand  dollars.  In  1898  an  excellent  parish 
school  was  built  at  an  expenditure  of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.  It  is  said 
by  good  judges  to  be  one  of  the  best  of  the  Worcester  schools,  and  is  not  only 
a glory^  to  the  parish,  but  it  is  decidedly  an  ornament  to  the  cit3^  These 
schools  are  under  the  charge  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Anne  from  Lachine,  Canada, 
with  Sister  Hiliare  as  Superior.  She  still  rules.  When  the  schools  of  the 
parish  opened  there  were  one  hundred  children.  They  were  then  gathered 
into  a building  at  the  corner  of  Grand  and  Southgate  streets.  To-day  there 
are  four  hundred  pupils  in  six  class-rooms  of  nine  distinct  grades.  This 
school  was  opened  in  1885,  but  the  Sisters  then  belonged  to  Notre  Dame,  the 
mother-parish.  They  took  residence  in  this  parish  in  1893.  The  new  school 
adjoining  the  church  was  blessed  November  13,  1898,  by  Bishop  Beaven. 

The  people  of  the  parish,  their  pastor  says,  have  respectable  place  in  the 
community.  They  are  a self-respecting  and  moral  body'.  They'  love  their 
religion,  and  favor  the  Catholic  education  of  their  children.  There  are 
amongst  them  merchants,  and  men  of  affairs,  as  builders,  contractors,  and 
tradesmen.  One  of  their  number  represents  his  end  of  the  city  in  the 
Council  chamber.  Many  of  them  are  good  citizens,  and  others  are  rapidly 
seeking  citizenship  with  its  attendant  benefits  and  duties. 

Rev.  Joseph  Edmund  Perreault  was  born  in  the  parish  of  the  Assumption, 
province  of  Quebec,  July  12th,  1847.  made  his  classical  studies  in  the 
college  of  the  Assumption  in  his  native  village,  and  was  ordained  a priest  on 
the  1 8th  day  of  August,  1872.  He  was  an  assistant  at  the  church  of  St. 
Henri,  Montreal,  three  years.  In  1876  he  was  assistant  at  St.  Remi.  Two 
years  later  he  was  a missionary  at  Coopersville  and  Sciota,  diocese  of  Ogdens- 
burg.  He  organized  two  parishes  in  these  places,  and  then,  taken  with  ser- 
ious sickness,  was  obliged  to  end  the  work,  and  repair  to  Sault  au  Recollet, 
St.  Janvier,  where  he  remained  with  Monsignor  Ignace  Bourget,  the  aged 
Bishop  of  Montreal.  In  August,  1880,  as  private  secretary  he  attended 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD: 


:>8U 


Bishop  Bourget,  then  making  his  last  visit  to  Rome.  Two  years  later  when 
his  health  was  somewhat  restored,  he  came  again  to  the  United  States,' 
and  was  a curate  at  Webster  with  Rev.  Arsene  Landry.  In  July,  1884,' 
Bishop  O’Reilly,  having  made  a parish  in  Turner’s  Falls  for  the  Canadians,- 
named  Father  Perreault  the  first  rector.  He  took  possession  on  the  i6th  day' 
of  the  same  month  and  year.  He  remained  there  until  1893,  when  he  was’ 
called  by  Bishop  Beaven  to  Worcester  as  pastor  of  the  new  parish  of  the  Holy 
Name  of  Jesus,  which  the  bishop  had  then  created.  He  took  charge  of  the 
parish  on  the  7th  day  of  February,  1893.  That  Father  Perreault  has  done' 
good  work  since  his  coming  is  evident  on  every  hand  in  his  parish.  What 
promises  to  be  a great  city  parish  in  the  future  is  in  his  care,  and  everything' 
seems  to  be  managed  judiciously.  ' 

CHURCH  FOR  THE  ITALIANS, 

Worcester. 


1899. 


N September  18,  1894,  an  Italian  priest.  Rev.  Vincent  Migliore,  gath- 
ered the  people  of  his  race  into  St.  Stephen’s  church  with  the  inten- 
tion of  forming  a parish  for  their  beneht.  He  found  seven  hundred 
people  of  this  race  in  the  city.  He  remained  until  the  spring  of 
During  that  time  he  was  unable  to  make  any  headway  towards  a par- 
ish formation  beyond  the  purchase  of  a lot,  80  by  160  feet,  at  the  junction  of 
Suffolk  and streets.  In  fact  it  is  said,  that  were  it  not  for  the  kind- 

ness of  the  Irish  neighbors,  amongst  whom  he  lived,  he  could  not  remain  at 
all.  Discouraged,  at  length  he  gave  up  the  idea  of  a congregation,  and  tlie 
Italian  people  reverted  again  to  St.  Stephen’s  parish,  where  Father  Kave- 
naugh,  who  speaks  their  language,  under  the  direction  of  the  pastor,  looks 
after  their  interests.  During  Father  Migliore’s  care,  however,  he  baptized 
85  children  and  married  18  couples. 


ST.  CASIMIR’S  CHURCH  (LITHUANIAN  AND  POLISH), 

Worcester. 

(f)  I HE  same  year  that  witnessed  the  attempt  to  form  an  Italian  parish 
^ I marked  the  coming  of  Rev.  Joseph  Jakcztys  to  the  Poles  and  Lithua- 
nians then  within  the  city  lines.  The  first  Mass  said  for  these  people 
was  in  the  Sacred  Heart  church  by  Father  Jakcztys,  October  21,  1894.  The 
little  frame  church  they  own  was  built  for  them  at  the  head  of  Ledge  street 
in  the  spring  and  summer  of  1895,  and  was  blessed  by  Rt.  Rev.  Mgr.  Thomas 
Griffin,  October  20th,  that  same  year.  The  church,  which  is  intended  as  a 
temporary  shelter,  is  small,  but  was  large  enough  for  the  first  congregation. 
About  two  hundred  souls  recognized  Father  Jakcztys’  care  at  first.  They 
were  made  up  of  Lithuanian  and  Polish  people,  and  Father  Jakcztys  i? 
obliged,  therefore,  to  speak  in  the  two  languages.  Now  he  has  about  four 
hundred  souls,  all  of  the  same  race. 

In  the  first  four  years  of  the  parish  life  there  were  125  baptisms,  66  mar- 
riages, and  four  conversions.  Three  of  these  conversions  were  from  the 
Russian  Orthodox  church,  and  one  was  from  Protestantism. , , ,, 


DIOCESE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


281 


There  have  been  a great  deal  of  small  troubles  in  the  church  due  to  the 
fact  that  certain  restive  souls  amongst  the  people  wish  to  control  the  parish 
affairs.  These  troubles  are  without  special  significance,  but  in  this  parish,  as 
in  several  other  parishes  made  up  of  these  people  everywhere,  they  are  a 
serious  vexation  and  retard  the  religious  advance  of  the  congregations. 

Those  who  make  up  St.  Casimir’s  parish  in  Worcester  are  working  peo- 
ple, who  are  employed  in  the  humblest  callings.  All  of  them  aye  common 
laborers  ; they  are  uneducated,  and  with  small  idea  of  business  beyond  the 
simple  day’s  labor.  They  have  no  influence  politically,  though  it  is  said  that 
more  than  fifty  of  them  have  taken  out  citizens’  papers. 

Rev.  Joseph  Jakcztys  was  born  in  Lithuania,  May  2,  1848.  After  gradu- 
ation from  the  High  School  of  Marianopol  he  entered  the  seminary  of  Seiny 
in  1876.  Here,  after  five  years  of  study,  he  was  ordained  a priest.  May  3, 
1881.  He  was  a curate  in  Poland  for  three  years,  thence  was  called  to  the 
cathedral  of  Sciny,  where  for  six  years  he  was  teacher  of  religion  and  morals 
in  the  schools.  Here  he  got  into  trouble  with  the  Russian  government,  apd 
for  a political  offense  served  two  years  in  prison  ; and  in  consequence  was 
deprived  of  the  right  to  hold  any  oflficial  position.  He  came  to  this  country 
in  October,  1894,  and  has  worked  ever  since  in  the  city  of  Worcester.  ' 


APPENDIX. 


Clerical  Changes  in  TXocese  Since  January  t,  1900, 


PASTORS. 

* Rev.  W.  Alex.\nder  appointed  pastor  at  St.  Anthony’s,  West  Boylston. 
Rev.  W.  B.\lth.\sard  from  St.  Anthony’.s,  West  Boylston,  to  new  parish 

in  Leominster. 

Rev.  J.  J.  O’Keefe  from  West  Springfield  to  St.John’s,  Clinton,  vice. 
Rev.  R.  j.  Patterson,  decea.sed. 

Rev.  James  Boyle  from  All  Saints’,  Ware,  to  St.  Joseph’s,  Pittsfield,  vice. 
Rev.  T.  M.  Smith,  deceased. 

* Rev.  j.  j.  Bell  from  assistant  St.  Jo.seph’s,  Pittsfield,  to  pastorate  of  Charl- 

ton, Mass. 

Rev.  M.  j.  Carroll  from  P'isherville  to  Holy  Trinity,  Greenfield,  vice. 
Rev.  M.  E.  Purcell,  deceased. 

Rev.  a.  E.  Dwyer  from  Ea.st  and  West  Longmeadow  to  Fi.sherville. 

Rev.  j.  P.  Hackett  from  assistant  .St.  Patrick’s,  .South  Hadley  Falls,  to 
pastorate  of  East  and  West  Ivongmeadow. 

Rev.  I).  Moye.s,  D.C.L.,  to  Immacnlate  Conception,  West  Springfield. 

* Rev.  j.  P'.  Griffin  from  a.ssistant  at  .Sacred  Heart,  AVorcester,  to  pastorate 

of  St.  Thomas,  Mittineagne. 

* Rev.  M.  a.  DesrocheRvS  from  assistant  at  Precious  Blood,  Holyoke,  to 

pastorate  at  Shelburne  Falls,  Ma.ss. 

Rev.  j.  j.  F.^llon  from  pastorate  of  St.  Patrick’s,  Williamstown,  to  pastor- 
torate  of  All  Saints’,  Ware. 

*Rev.  j.  M.  Kenney  from  assistant  St.  Joseph’s,  Pittsfield,  to  pastorate  St. 
Patrick’s,  Williamstown,  Mass. 

Rev.  Thom.as  H.  McLaughlin  appointed  pastor  of  St.  Thomas’,  Adams, 
August  1 8,  1899,  vice. 

Rev.  Denis  Moran,  deceased. 


282 


*Foimerh'  as.sistants. 


APPENDIX. 


280 


ASSISTANTS. 

Rev.  G.  H.  McDermott  to  St.  Deo’s,  Leominster,  Mass. 

Rev.  E.  P.  Dumpy  from  St.  Leo’s,  Leominster,  to  vSt.  Patrick’s,  South 
Hadley  Falls. 

Rev.  iM.  J.  Ahern  from  West  Springfield  to  Sacred  Heart,  Worcester,  Mass. 
Rev.  J.  F.  Galvin  to  assistant  St.  John’s,  Clinton,  Mass. 

Rev.  G.  Gagnon  to  Immaculate  Conception,  Fitchburg,  Mass. 

Rev.  J.  A.  Fradette  from  assistant  Immaculate  Conception,  Fitchburg,  to 
Notre  Dame,  Southbridge. 

Rev.  M.  j.  Leonard  to  as.sistant  St.  Joseph’s,  Pittsfield,  Mass. 

Rp:v.  W.  C.  McCaughan  from  assi.stant  St.  John’s,  Clinton,  to  a.ssistant 
Holy  Trinity,  Greenfield. 

Rev  P.  j.  O’Malley  from  a,ssistant  St.  Louis,  Webster,  to  as.sistaut  St. 
Patricks’,  Monson. 

Rev.  j.  F.  Conlin  from  assistant  Holy  Rosary,  Holyoke,  to  a.ssistant  St. 
Louis’,  Webster. 

Rev.  j.  j.  O’Malley  from  assistant  Holy  Triniry,  Greenfield,  to  assistant  St. 
Anne’s  Worcester. 

Rp:v.  W.  F.  Hartigan  from  assistant  St.  Anne’s,  Worcester,  to  assistant,  Lee. 
Rev.  j.  j.  Mullen  from  assistant  Lee,  Mass.,  to  assistant  St.  John’s,  Clinton. 


May  /,  /poo. 


22i_5u, 


Date  Due 

lAtA 

mAT  X " 

1970 

NOV  ^0  IS 

j\ 

f) 

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